Another round of Super Rugby Women has been run and won with the Waratahs maintaining their unbeaten start, the Brumbies upsetting the Reds in Brisbane and the Drua coming home strong in wet and wild conditions.
Read on for four super moments in Super Rugby Women's Round 3.
BRUMBIES WORKHORSE PALU LEADS FROM THE FRONT
Last week it was the Force, this week it's the Brumbies making history with their first win over the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby W, and it felt inevitable after Brumbies captain Siokapesi Palu bashed her way through for a try three minutes after the halftime siren.
Dominating possession for much of the match, and demonstrating a mature and structured game plan, the Brumbies hardly gave the Reds a sniff and it was Palu's try in the 43rd minute that exemplified the progress the Brumbies have made in the 2024 season.
It all came off the back of some great heads-up play and a poor mistake from the Reds. Given the chance to add an extra three and take a strong 13-point lead into the break, the ball came ricocheting off the upright and straight back into Faitala Moleka's arms giving her side another chance to add some points.
Keeping the ball alive the Brumbies hammered hard at the Reds line and it appeared their efforts would come to naught when Reds prop Liz Patu managed to snaffle the ball and kick for touch. But that wouldn't be the end of it.
Unfortunately for the Reds, wing Shalom Sauaso wanted to help Patu's kick find the line and so batted the ball dead resulting in a yellow card and the Brumbies earning a penalty five metres out. With the player advantage the Brumbies repeatedly tested the defence as they sent the ball wide, before Palu bashed through two defenders to crash down under the posts.
It was just rewards for a player who continues to lead her team from the front. Making the transition to the backrow last year, Palu was exemplary in her job on Saturday and was clearly one of the best on the pitch.
With two wins from three matches the Brumbies sit third on the ladder and have given themselves a good shot heading towards the backend of the season.
THE DOWNSIDE TO DOUBLE HEADERS
If people were worried about the pitch conditions during the Fijian Drua-Western Force Super Rugby Pacific clash, more questions need to be raised about the Super W match that followed that afternoon.
Bucketing down rain for days in the lead up and throughout the men's match, the Lautoka pitch had little chance to drain the excess water and produce professional playing conditions for the men,so by the time the women took to the field you could hardly consider the pitch as desirable, in fact, you wouldn't be surprised if club rugby matches were cancelled under those conditions.
Obviously, there are plenty of sound reasons behind why Super Rugby Pacific and Women's fixtures would take place as double headers, it's cheaper for broadcasters and event organisers and gives crowds a better chance of catching the event. But on Saturday it demonstrated its downside with the women given a chewed up, muddy mess to play on.
Putting aside it was an ugly affair with plenty of poor handling, a ripped-up deck is dangerous especially at scrum time, and it can only be considered lucky there were no major injuries to come out of the clash.
There's no easy answer for a situation like this though, to move away from double-headers will likely see a decrease in eyeballs, but surely the women deserve to play on professional standard pitches that don't run the risk of serious injury.
Clearly someone signed off on Saturday's match, but it must bring into question, how much rain and damage is too much before a game is cancelled?
TRY OF THE YEAR ALREADY?
Are we calling it too early? Nah, surely no one can top this try from the Waratahs in their win over the Rebels on Friday night.
Short-side, dummies and off-loads; this try seemed to have everything, including a prop showing off her support play and quick hands and finishing off with a spectacular finish from Desiree Miller in the left corner.
Pinned back in their own half by the Rebels kicking game, Tahs prop Brianna Hoy spotted the overlap on the short side and called for the ball early. Bringing the ball back to the left, Hoy sent a beautiful cut out ball for Georgina Friedrichs who drew the defender before offloading to Miller. As the wing charged down the flank, she looked back inside to Hoy who was showing remarkable pace to keep up with the play, before she held the ball up to draw in the defence and send yet another beautiful ball to her left where halfback Layne Morgan was sitting in her pocket. Throwing a spectacular dummy to bamboozle one defender, Morgan would eventually throw a superb flick pass around the defender off the ground for Miller to finish the play.
It's not the first time the Waratahs have produced some absolute magic. Remember Bridie O'Gorman's 40m try against the Force in 2022? Or fellow prop Eva Karpani's 60m runaway try against the Rebels just two weeks later? The Tahs have been an endless highlights reel for some time, but it might take some work to top this one.
WEEKEND OF RECORDS
Crashing over the tryline in the eighth minute for the Waratahs on Friday night, Maya Stewart became the first Super Rugby W player to score 30 tries. It's an incredible achievement made only more remarkable by the fact that she did it in just 20 games.
Known for her magnificent finishing ability, Stewart has made an indelible mark on the competition, seemingly scoring at will throughout her career, including a double on Friday night (taking her tally to 31), as she sits almost more than double the next top scorer in Ivania Wong (17).
At just 24-years-old she's still got plenty of rugby ahead of her and with her ability to score multiple a game it's not hard to imagine what number she could finish her career on. While Julian Savea just pushed the Super Rugby Pacific try scoring record out to 61, with the way Stewart's going, she could be chasing that number down in a just a few years.
Meanwhile, Queensland Reds wing Wong has also added her name to the record books becoming the most capped Super Rugby W player with 35 appearances, playing every single Reds game since the start of Super W. She was joined by prop Liz Patu in becoming the joint most capped women's Reds players, with the duo eclipsing Reds Hall of Famer Selena Worsley and Cheyenne Campbell when they ran out on Saturday.
Wong has enjoyed a quick rise in Super W, demonstrating her own incredible try-scoring ability and earning a call-up to the Wallaroos in 2022, while Patu earned her caps over a decade long journey with the club.