The gap between Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby teams is finally closing, Chiefs star Brodie Retallick says.
The All Blacks lock was on the end of a fierce drubbing in his 100th game on Saturday night as the Brumbies ran in eight tries to destroy the Chiefs 54-17 in Canberra.
It was a dramatic reversal for an Australian franchise to dish out a hiding to a Kiwi rival after years of New Zealand dominance.
Although the defending champion Crusaders are on a competition-record 17-game win streak, the four other Kiwi teams have come back to the field.
The infamous 40-game, 722-day hoodoo of New Zealand teams over Australian counterparts, which was snapped late last season, has been consigned to history.
"I'm not sure what goes on in the Australian teams' camp but with their results from last year they would've been pretty disappointed," Retallick said after the game.
"But (results this season) show they've been working hard and they've come a long way.
"Full credit to the way all the Aussie teams are going at the moment. There's no easy weeks in this competition."
The Brumbies' scintillating round two display saw them rack up their highest-scoring first-half since their 2004 final victory over the Crusaders.
Their end total was the first half-century by an Aussie team against a Kiwi opponent since round one, 2016 when the Brumbies racked up 52 points against the Hurricanes.
They did it all without John Eales medallist David Pocock after the Wallabies flanker was concussed in the opening round loss to the Melbourne Rebels.
It wasn't just the Brumbies' try-fest that sparked joy in Australian rugby fans, with the Queensland Reds showing serious improvement in their season opener.
Brad Thorn's Reds led with five minutes to go against the Highlanders in Dunedin before Dillon Hunt put the hosts back in front to record a 14th straight win at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
After finishing 13th last season, the result was a huge step forward for the Reds and made a mockery of some dire pre-season forecasts for a team which had bid farewell to Quade Cooper, Karmichael Hunt and James Slipper.
Meanwhile, the NSW Waratahs made up for a season-opening one-point defeat to the Hurricanes to edge out the Sunwolves by the same margin on Saturday.
The Waratahs have the bye next week before gearing up for Australian conference showdowns against the Reds and the Brumbies.
Dave Wessels' Rebels are back in action against the Highlanders next week after having a bye following their first-up victory over the Rebels.
