The five performers of the week from Super Rugby Pacific round seven

The seventh round of Super Rugby Pacific is in the books, and anticipation is already mounting ahead of the mouthwatering match-up between the Blues and the Hurricanes on April 11 in Wellington.   

The Hurricanes have entered uncharted waters after snapping the Reds’ four-game winning streak with a 52-14 hiding of the Aussie leaders at Hnry Stadium.  

The Blues have won four in a row, with their latest 40-15 win over the Fijian Drua at Eden Park showing an increasingly balanced combination.  

The Waratahs’ 30-28 upset of the Brumbies was the surprise of the round and has revived the Sydneysiders’ flagging campaign. 

The Highlanders rolled Moana Pasifika 39-19 to earn their third win of the season, matching their 2025 tally. The Chiefs toppled the tenacious Western Force 24-14 in Perth. 

Who were the performers of the week in Round 7 of Super Rugby Pacific? 

Nic Shearer (Highlanders) 

On September 13, 2024, New Zealand Under-19 and 20s halfback Nic Shearer from Christ’s College in Christchurch scored two tries for Canterbury in their 41-29 win over Southland in the NPC in Invercargill. Overlooked by Canterbury in 2025, Shearer left for Southland and played all ten games for the Stags. 

He scored a try in their famous 25-10 Ranfurly Shield win against Waikato in Hamilton, then ironically fronted in a defence of the Log o’ Wood against Canterbury just six days later. Now the 22-year-old is a Super Rugby player enjoying an outstanding debut in the Highlanders’ 39-19 win against Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium in Albany.   

In contrast to the skittery displays of All Black Folau Fakatava in 2026, Shearer was urgent and clinical as the Highlanders raced to a 29-0 halftime lead and ultimately won comfortably.  

Shearer scored a try ranging wide on the wing and delivered the last pass in three more Highlanders tries. One of those passes was to voltaic winger Caleb Tangitau, who has scored 18 tries in his last 20 games of first-class rugby, including six games with two tries.   

In the second half, the lights at North Harbour Stadium went out, causing a half-hour delay. This is not the first time this has happened at North Harbour Stadium. On Anzac Day 2009, the power went out during a game where the Reds beat the Blues 31-24.   

Moana Pasifika have been “lights out” since beating the Blues 27-21 on May 17, 2025. They have conceded 461 points in nine games, with the opposition reaching a half-century five times. Coach Tana Umaga has been assigned a specific defensive role in the All Blacks. Should these numbers raise concern for the national team?  

Clem Halaholo (Waratahs) 

The Waratahs snapped a three-game losing streak to revive their season with a stunning 30-28 upset of the Brumbies in Canberra. 

It was just the second time in 16 matches the Waratahs had beaten the Brumbies, who had won their last eight in a row against the visitors in the Aussie capital. The Waratahs had also only won once in their last 13 games as the visiting team. 

The Waratahs’ win was built on grit, with the Waratahs making 132 more tackles than the Brumbies. Blindside flanker Clem Halaholo led with 22 tackles. He was subbed in the 66th minute but returned five minutes later after Wallabies No.8 Pete Samu was yellow-carded. 

One of six siblings, Halaholo, 22, had been part of the Waratahs since he was 15 but was cut from the senior squad in 2025. In 2026, he returned with renewed vigour and, after injuries, was awarded a debut and scored a try in a 36-12 win against the Reds in Sydney on February 13. 

In Canberra, Halaholo thrust over the tryline like a javelin for an early score and was the heart and soul of a Waratahs outfit that out-passioned a Brumbies side that, unusually, lost discipline in the last quarter.  

Promising fullback Sid Harvey kicked 65th, 69th and 73rd-minute penalties to keep the Waratahs in front. Halaholo is the cousin of Davvy Moale, a Cook Islands rugby league international who has played in the NRL for South Sydney and the Melbourne Storm.   

Fehi Fineanganofo (Hurricanes) 

The Hurricanes’ 52-14 thrashing of the Reds in Wellington was their biggest ever against the 2011 champions and marked their 11th straight victory in this fixture. Dynamic, expansive, and clinical rugby is the Hurricanes’ fare, and no one is flourishing more than bruising winger Fehi Fineanganofo.   

He matched George Bridge’s achievement for the 2017 champion Crusaders by scoring a hat-trick in consecutive weeks. Bridge scored three tries in a 57-24 win against the Stormers on April 22, 2017, in Christchurch and then another three in a 48-21 hiding of the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on April 29.   

Fineanganofo is contributing much more than just scoring tries. He ranked in the top five for carries, meters gained, linebreaks, and defenders beaten in the Reds’ romp. He now joins Tana Umaga (1997), Vince Aso (2017), and Ben Lam (2018) as Hurricanes players who have scored two hat-tricks in a single season. Fineanganofo has scored 24 tries in his last 22 first-class games for the Hurricanes and Bay of Plenty.   

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have scored 50 or more points in four of their six games this season, something the Crusaders have never done in any of their 15 championship-winning years. The Crusaders’ best is three games with over 50 points in a season. The 2017 Hurricanes also reached 50 points four times, while the 1997 semi-finalists did it three times and the 2016 champions only once.   

The Bulls, champions in 2010, hit 50 points four times that year. The 2017 Lions, who finished as runners-up, scored over 50 points in four matches, including three in a row. The 2025 Chiefs managed 50 or more points twice and 49 points twice.   

The first Blues team to win the championship in 1996 scored 40 or more points in seven of their 13 games. The 2002 Crusaders, who were 13-0, scored 40 or more points in four games, including a 96-19 slaughter of the Waratahs in Christchurch.   

Bradley Slater (Blues) 

The Blues overpowered the Fijian Drua 26-0 in the last 30 minutes to turn a 15-14 deficit into a 40-15 bonus point win and claim the inaugural Joeli Vidiri Trophy. 

Before students in the “Zoo” at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin began chanting “Waisake Naholo” to the tune of the White Stripes’ classic Seven Nation Army, the Blues had already adapted Eddy Grant’s 1988 anti-apartheid hit ‘Give Me Hope Jo’anna’ into ‘Give Me Hope Joeli’ as a tribute to Vidiri.   

The Nausori Highlands-born flyer appeared in seven Tests for Fiji and two for the All Blacks. He played a pivotal role in the Blues’ championship victories in the first two Super Rugby seasons in 1996 and 1997. By his retirement in 2001, he held the Blues try-scoring record with 43 tries in 61 appearances.   

Gritty and efficient hooker Slater is the antithesis of the flamboyant Vidiri. Heaven forbid crowds start singing songs for rolling maul tries. The son of Taranaki hardman Andy Slater, who played 178 games in Amber and Black, is an ideal fit for the brutish Blues of “Stern -Vern.”  

Slater’s second rolling maul try at 15-14 shifted momentum in favour of the hosts and was a reward for his toil and moil, which included a dozen tackles and helping the Blues win 17 of their 18 lineout throws. The Blues eventually opened up and played Vidiri-like rugby with long-range tries to Payton “Prince” Spencer, Cody Vai and Caleb Clarke.   

Slater won 40 of his 68 games for the Chiefs, helped Taranaki win the Ranfurly Shield twice and the 2023 NPC, and won all four matches he’s played for the All Blacks XV. He might yet emulate his uncle Gordon Slater, who played 171 games for Taranaki, in making the All Blacks. 

Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs)  

The Chiefs lacked their usual panache but did enough to battle past the gallant Force. While much of their attack was one-dimensional, All Blacks second five-eighth Quinn Tupaea continued his fine form, making the most headway of any player with 15 carries and 137 metres gained in the deteriorating weather. 

It’s not a stretch to say that Tupaea would make a decent openside flanker. He topped the tackle count with 13 and secured two jackal turnovers. He has ten this season.   

Nick Champion de Crespigny was a hive of activity, making 24 tackles. The two-time Shute Shield winner for Sydney University has worked in property development and labouring, and has played 53 times in Castres, France, to sustain his Wallabies dream, which came true with four Tests last year. He provided insight into his attitude in a June 2025 interview with the Sydney Moring Hearld.  

“At school, I was balanced rugby and rowing – early mornings, late nights, training and then going home to complete my studies, and it ingrained a work ethic where you just have to dig in. Rowing shows what you are made of. It’s a pretty tough two kilometres, your true colours really come out.” 

N.B. Prior to kickoff in the Hurricanes v Reds match, a moment of silence was held to honour one of the most colourful All Blacks and decent blokes, Nev MacEwan, All Black #578, who passed away on March 11, aged 91.  

Born in Auckland on May 1, 1934, he was educated at Nelson College, where he featured in the 1952 First XV that was unbeaten in 17 matches. He played 133 matches for Wellington between 1954 and 1967, securing the Ranfurly Shield in 1956 and contributing to victories over the touring Springboks in 1965 and the British & Irish Lions in 1966. From 1956 to 1962, MacEwan appeared in 52 matches (41 wins) for the All Blacks, including 20 Test matches. 

Notably, he was the only All Black forward to start a Test match in three different positions: No. 8, lock, and prop. Following his rugby career, MacEwan served on the Palmerston North City Council. He faced personal challenges with alcoholism, served time in jail, and subsequently transformed his life to become a prison chaplain, supporting disadvantaged individuals.   

MacEwan played half of his All Blacks Test career alongside Colin “Pinetree” Meads. In 2015, MacEwan told Club Rugby, “I often joke with my family that Pinetree will be a pallbearer at my funeral. I spent half my All Blacks carrying him.”