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All Black midfielder takes POTY lead as gap widens


Quinn Tupaea and Jordie Barrett of the All Blacks look on during a New Zealand All Blacks Captain's Run ahead of The Gallagher Cup: The Rematch between Ireland and All Blacks at Soldier Field on October 31, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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All Blacks and Chiefs midfielder Quinn Tupaea has burst into the Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year lead after his performance against the Waratahs in Hamilton.

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The midfielder crossed for a double in their convincing victory over Dan McKellar’s side, continuing his consistent form and his place towards the top of the POTY leaderboard.

Wallabies No.10 and Force playmaker Ben Donaldson impressed once again, this time taking home four votes against the Reds, taking him to 31 for the season and a second-place spot behind Tupaea.

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High-flying Wallabies winger Max Jorgensen claimed five points from the Saturday evening matchup against the Chiefs, keeping him within touching distance of the top two, with 28 votes.

Crusaders fullback Will Jordan sits in fourth place with 25 votes, but four-try hero Codie Taylor, who grabbed all of the headlines and votes, claimed nine from the final game at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch.

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Franco Molina both secured six points in their matchup in Brisbane, while Mac Grealey won four votes.

Australia U20 international and Waratahs outside back Sid Harvey still leads the Rookie of the Year voting table, with 13 votes so far this season.

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Here is how the voting went in round eight:

Crusaders v Fijian Drua

9 – Codie Taylor (CRU)

5 – Leicester Fainga’anuku (CRU)

4 – Elia Canakaivata (FJI), Isaak Fines-Leleiwasa (FJI), Manasa Mataele (FJI)

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2 – Will Jordan (CRU)

1 – Virimi Vakatava (FJI), Antonio Shalfoon (CRU)

Chiefs v NSW Waratahs

9 – Quinn Tupaea (CHI)

5 – Max Jorgensen (NSW), Samipeni Finau (CHI)

4 – Pete Samu (NSW)

3 – Samisoni Take’aho (CHI)

2 – Charlie Gamble (NSW)

1 – Clem Halaholo (NSW), Xavier Roe (CHI)

Queensland Reds v Western Force

6 – Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (QLD), Franco Molina (FOR)

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5 – Mac Grealy (FOR)

4 – Ben Donaldson (FOR)

3 – Hunter Paisami (QLD)

2 – Aidan Ross (QLD), Darby Lancaster (FOR)

1 – Fraser McReight (QLD), Brandon Paenga-Amosa (FOR)

Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year Voting after Round Eight

36 – Quinn Tupaea (CHI)

31 – Ben Donaldson (FOR)

28 – Max Jorgensen (NSW)

25 – Will Jordan (CRU)

22 – Timoci Tavatavanawai (HIG), Caleb Tangitau (HIG)

20 – Miracle Faiilagi (MOA), Charlie Cale (ACT), Ryan Lonergan (ACT)

19 – Caleb Clarke (BLU

18 – Fehi Fineanganofo (HUR)

17 – Cam Roigard (HUR), Jordie Barrett (HUR), Declan Meredith (ACT)

16 – Vaiolini Ekuasi (FOR)

15 – Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa (MOA), Elia Canakaivata (FJI), Dalton Papali’i (BLU)

Rookie Of The Year

13 – Sid Harvey (NSW)

6 – Joel Lam (MOA), Nic Shearer (HIG)

5 – Codemeru Vai (BLU)

4 – Lucas Casey (HIG)

3 – Dominic Ropeti (MOA), Iosefo Namoce (FJI)

2 – Treyvon Pritchard (QLD), Kadin Pritchard (ACT), Johnny Lee (CRU), Torian Barnes (BLU), Clem Halaholo (NSW)

1 – Malachi Wrampling (BLU)

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NK 180 days ago

This has the potential to award the POTY to a player from a team that hasn’t achieved much this season. As an example, the Hurricanes are top of the table and putting 50pts on opponents, but their best perfomer here has half of the points of the leader.

And almost every round there’s a lopsided result but a player of the losing team gets the 2nd most rating points from the game.

Maybe I’m not smart enough to comprehend the way this works.

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NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
‘Australia are hitting a sweet spot of Test experience; it’s exciting to think where they could get to over the next 12 months’

When I looked at the Aus team to play SA I had the same thought, suddenly alot of “new” players werent very new at all. It is a side building nicely and if they can maintain consistency they will be in the sweet spot in terms of experience and age, this is a good youthful team. So physically and experience wise they should be prepared. This is a nice thought but what the team needs now is belief, consistency and cohesion. That can only be built with important wins, coaches willing to invest in players and the team environment. Kiss has selected well so far and has got some wins but you almost feel as though they have to win at least one of these Bledisloe tests just to build that belief. Wins against South Africa have never been a Wallabies problem. Wins against the All Blacks have recently become as impossible to acquire as yesterdays time. When the Boks went on to win the world cup in 2019 they cited the win in Wellington as the one that built the belief they needed to know they could beat the best in the world. The same could be true for these Wallabies. If they go on to lose the group match against NZ next year they will be in the somewhat easier side of the draw which would give them a more feasible route to the final. The stars do seem to be aligning but now is the time when they need to turn promise into wins.

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