Aussie Super Rugby takes: Wallaby halfback conundrum, Reds send warning shot

Super Rugby Pacific’s regular season is done for 2026, with only six teams left standing, two of them Australian, four of them from New Zealand.

It was a brutal end to the regular season for Aussie sides and players.

Wallabies and Waratahs halfback Jake Gordon suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, Queensland Reds’ in-form centre Hunter Paisami was seen in a knee brace halfway through match, and the Brumbies lost at home to Moana Pasifika.

All this just leaves the Western Force, who got their fourth win in a row at home and who finished the highest in the rankings in more than a decade.

Across the Tasman, the Crusaders thumped a Hurricanes-lite side with a lot of their key men taking a well-earned rest ahead of finals, while the Chiefs gave a faltering Blues side a shellacking.

It’s been a major mixed bag for the Aussie sides in the final round, very emblematic of their season as a whole.

So, with the final round of regular-season games to analyse, here are the takes on the Aussie teams after the ultimate round.

Jake Gordon’s injury takes Wallabies halfback stocks from stacked to uncertain

The story was etched on the Waratah halfback’s face; no words had been said, none were needed. He had suffered an Achilles tendon rupture after taking off from a classic Jake quick tap.

It was disappointment more than pain on his face as he realised he would be spending some time on the sidelines.

Now there are only three capped halfbacks remaining in the entire country: Tate McDermott, Ryan Lonergan, and Kalani Thomas.

McDermott and Lonergan will be the Wallabies’ halfback stocks, but until now, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has not fully trusted the Brumbies stalwart, and McDermott has primarily played an impact role off the bench.

Thomas is not a sure thing in the gold jersey either, with just one cap to his name.

This opens up that third halfback spot to an entire host of very capable, young, and inexperienced options in Teddy Wilson, Louis Werchon, and Nathan Hastie.

The injury to the Western Force’s Henry Robertson only a few weeks ago now appears to be an even bigger blow to national stability, with his partnership with Australia’s form flyhalf, Ben Donaldson, flourishing before his ACL injury.

Lonergan and McDermott are Australia’s no.9s for July, and who will be their backup is both a call for concern as an exciting opportunity.

The Brumbies are rebuilding at the wrong part of the season

Another loss to Moana Pasifika perfectly summarises the Brumbies’ shortcomings in the back half of this season.

It would be easier to brush it off as an anomaly if this had been the only loss to a bottom-dwelling side at home this season, but it is not, and there is also not just one thing going wrong on the field, either.

The Brumbies, after their red-hot start to the season, are well and truly rebuilding themselves in the back half of the season.

The reintroduction of Wallabies players, Tom Wright, Allan Alaalatoa, Charlie Cale, Cadeyrn Neville, and Lachlan Lonergan, has proved to be a destabilising act of self-improvement for the team.

The loss of budding talent Kadin Pritchard to a hamstring injury, as well as the loss of ever-reliable Ollie Sappsford, doesn’t help.

All these rebuilding connections, as well as the pursuit of rediscovered form, were overshadowed by something which should concern coach Stephen Larkham even more; there appeared to be a gulf in effort between the Brums and Moana.

Where Brumbies players were jogging, Moana players were sprinting, where one or two Brumbies players were working back, three or four Moana players were coursing through, giving options on attack and scrambling hard in defence.

This effort was likely fueled by the fact that it was Moana’s final game in the competition, and even more so impressive considering they were down to 14 men for large chunks of the game due to ill-discipline.

For Larkham and his men, anything but a complete one-eighty-degree flip on that effort will result in another absolute thrashing at the hands of the indomitable Hurricanes in Wellington in the first week of finals this coming weekend.

Queensland Reds put the finals on notice with a powerful display

It’s been clear all year that the Queenslanders are the most powerful Australian side.

They proved it yet again with an abrasive and willing display against the competition’s most dominant carriers in Fijian Drua on Friday night.

Nevertheless, the likes of Lachie Anderson, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Matt Faessler, Hunter Paisami, Josh Flook and Filipo Daugunu, as well as backrower Harry Wilson, were in a mood to dominate contacts.

Seru Uru, who has now moved back into his preferred backrow position after the Reds welcomed back Josh Canham in the locking stocks, saw Uru thrive.

Although Uru, too, is a dominant carrier, he definitely does his best work a little wider off the ruck, where his tall frame and Fijian flair allow him to get gainline carries on smaller opposition before offloading and putting his backs in space.

The Reds have shown time and time again this season that they have the power game to compete with the New Zealand sides, and their clash with the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday night will undoubtedly show that again.

It’s a final’s machination they would have preferred to have avoided, but it’s likely better than playing the Canes in Wellington, and perhaps even the Crusaders at their new fortress at Te Kaha Stadium.

Big carry metres, staunch hits in defence and a confidence to match power with power is where you want to be heading into do-or-die clashes, and a need to make history this coming weekend with finals across the Tasman.

Nick Champion De Crespigny is the latest player to flourish in the West 

Despite lacking consistent results and a finals berth, the Western Force program has improved markedly under coach Simon Cron in the past few years.

The organisation again reiterated its confidence in his work by signing him on for the 2027 season in the past two weeks.

His legacy as head of the West will be consistently producing and improving Wallabies under his guidance: Hamish Stewart, captain Jeremy Williams, Dylan Pietsch, Darby Lancaster, Carlo Tizzano, Ben Donaldson, and now Nick Champion De Crespigny.

The giant blindside flanker, like many of his Wallaby-capped teammates, has gone from strength to strength in the west, and although some of them were capped before moving west, it is clear the environment in Perth is spurring them to greater heights.

Some players have a particular affinity for either attack or defence, and previously, NCDC has been a defensive powerhouse, but in 2026 he has become a genuine carry-threat with the ball in hand.

At an average of 4.9m per carry, NCDC is amongst some of the best tight carriers in the competition now, to go along with his punch in defence.

It creates an interesting selection dynamic for Joe Schmidt, who will have front-runners Exter Chief Tom Hooper, Rob Valetini, Charlie Cale, and Harry Wilson to pick from, as well as a host of uncapped talent that have been staking their claim.

NCDC has been complimented by Schmidt before, around his versatility and ‘speed off the ground’ at lineout time.

All this, combined with the fact that he has never once looked outmuscled or out of his depth in his limited minutes at Test level, sees him in a strong position to be part of a Wallabies matchday 23 in the inaugural Nations Championship, which kicks off in just over a month.