All five Australian Super teams chasing play-offs in the last round
Australia will have at least two teams playing Super Rugby Pacific finals with a third spot still up for grabs heading into the last round of the regular season.
The Chiefs have locked down top spot but there’s still plenty of jostling for the finals-bound top eight, with Australia tipped to have three teams led by the Brumbies.
After their 31-21 loss to the Hamilton-based Chiefs, the Brumbies sit in fourth place with the top four teams hosting the next four in week one of play-offs.
Certain of finishing sixth, the NSW Waratahs are also assured of a spot but will be sweating on the Brumbies snatching third position from the Blues to avoid a dreaded trip across the Tasman.
No Australian side has ever won a finals match in New Zealand but that would be the Waratahs’ mountain-sized challenge to keep their season alive if the Blues finish third.
The fourth-placed Brumbies can leapfrog the Blues – and host the Waratahs in a sudden-death quarter-final – with a bonus-point victory over the Melbourne Rebels in Canberra on Friday night and the Auckland-based outfit fail to post a bonus-point win over the Highlanders.
Coach Stephen Larkham is remaining upbeat despite his side conceding three soft tries against the Chiefs to suffer their second straight defeat.
“It’s one that slipped away from us … we’ve got to build on this game,” Larkham said.
Queensland, the Western Force and even the 11th-placed Rebels are all still a finals chance.
Melbourne need plenty to fall their way but after trouncing the Force 52-14 and only losing to the Brumbies 33-26 in round 11, coach Kevin Foote fancies their chances of an upset.
“We’ve had some crackers in Canberra so I love the challenge and we’ll be right up for it,” Foote said.
The Waratahs’ four-game win streak came to a shuddering halt with a 42-18 loss in Christchurch against the Crusaders, who sit second on the ladder.
The good news for the Tahs is that they can’t be dislodged from sixth spot regardless of their result against last-placed Moana Pasifika on Saturday.
Limping towards the finals with some serious injuries, Queensland could finish anywhere from seventh to 11th.
They face a tough trip to Fjii to face the Drua, who are 10th but also still in the finals hunt, and the Reds will be without flanker Conner Vest, who fractured his neck in their last-gasp loss to the Highlanders.
Liam Wright’s season is over after he dislocated his shoulder while his fellow co-captain Tate McDermott is in major doubt through concussion.
Coach Brad Thorn acknowledged the Fiji clash as an early elimination match.
“It’s finals come early, which is good, it’s an easy one to sell,” Thorn said.
The Force did themselves no favours leaving Melbourne without even a bonus point to sit in ninth spot, trailing the Highlanders by one point.
However they may get a reprieve with the Chiefs likely to rest many of their stars from the trip to Perth, where the Force are unbeaten this season.
Coach Simon Cron said his team was eager to make amends for their performance against the Rebels and could even climb to seventh on the back of other results.
“The Chiefs are a great rugby side and I think any side in Super Rugby on their day can go at each other, but it’s about what we do,” Cron said.
“I’d like it to be tomorrow, rather than wait after a performance we’re not happy with.
“We go home, the boys love it there and we get to go to work.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
19 Go to comments