After two rounds, the Waratahs and Brumbies lead Super Rugby. It’s just what the competition needed

He can’t be a crash-and-bash merchant. When he has tried this approach – so effective in the NRL against smaller men – he has been rebuffed on the gain line, and he must be looking at the space the Waratahs are giving Max Jorgensen with a degree of envy. They’ve got to give this bloke some space.

The excellent Six Nations unfolding in Europe has emphatically proved that there is still room at Test level for the stars of the game to show their athleticism and skill, but it isn’t happening for Suaalii in the midfield at the minute, and it hasn’t been for quite a while.

3. Waratahs’ fast start down to A-grade recruitment

Matt Philip, Pete Samu, Jack Debreczeni, Harry Potter, and now Ioane Moananu and Angus Blyth: the Waratahs’ off-season signings have all immediately added value – particularly Philip and Samu. For clubs bringing in half a dozen recruits, it would be a good result to have three of them firing in the opening rounds, never mind all six.

So the only conclusion is that they have arrived in an environment already set up to thrive, and they’ve simply been left to concentrate on their jobs. It was a bit of a mystery that Samu wasn’t involved more with the Wallabies last year – perhaps the long French season had taken its toll – but he’s putting a compelling early case in front of Joe Schmidt.

As for hooker Moananu, there were eyebrows raised in New Zealand when the Waratahs picked him up – he was being talked about as an All Blacks bolter in the first half of last year’s Super Rugby Pacific. There’ll be a queue of Kiwi teams looking to sign him when his one-year deal at the Waratahs ends, but that blow will be softened considerably if Ethan Dobbins keeps up his outstanding form.

4. Jorgensen is the best outside back in Australian collision sports

We said last August that in a choice between Max Jorgensen and Mark Nawaqanitawase, we’d go with Jorgensen every time. In fact, Jorgensen has shown over the past two weeks that he’s the best outside back in either Super Rugby or the NRL, and at 21 years old he’s only going to get better.

What distinguishes Jorgensen from the rest is his ability to open up either side of the field with his footwork. By the nature of the NRL, players tend to have a favoured side of the field and rarely roam. But Jorgensen can play left wing or right wing, and his signature “in and away” is something he can do off either foot.

Jorgensen made Fijian Drua winger Taniela Rakuro look silly on Friday, but Rakuro was likely operating under the valid assumption that Jorgensen would cut inside, not outside, as he did against Reds fullback Jock Campbell last week (and the Springboks at Ellis Park last year). Jorgensen’s footwork is like a Shane Warne delivery – good luck picking it.

5. The Force have been a huge disappointment

Two games and two home defeats for the Force, with 98 points conceded. There’s no sugar-coating it – that’s a poor start by the Force, and the galling thing is they looked like a club on the up last year.

Yes, they have lost Nic White, but there is still enough quality in that squad to be far better than they have been, especially in defence. The Blues are a physical team – ‘Stern’ Vern Cotter will accept nothing less at the Reds next year – but deep down the Force will know that some of the Blues’ tries in the second half were a touch soft: just a couple of big carries and they were in behind the defence far too easily.

No. 7 Carlo Tizzano – who looks to have eaten his way up to about 110kg – was outstanding for the Force, but normally reliable operators such as Hamish Stewart, Darcy Swain, Jeremy Williams and others are nowhere near their best. It’s not a time to write off the Force, but they simply aren’t doing themselves justice.