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The Super Rugby factor proving a huge hit with fans

Tate McDermott of Reds passes the ball during the round 12 Super Rugby Pacific match between Fijian Drua and Queensland Reds at HFC Stadium, on May 03, 2025, in Suva, Fiji. (Photo by Pita Simpson/Getty Images)

Super Rugby Pacific is winning over fans with the increased speed of the game capturing crowds and television audiences, according to an analysis of the 2025 season.

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With the final round completed and qualifying finals this weekend, data shows the competition produced tighter contests, with winning margins of seven points or less in 43.1 per cent of games.

The average points per game is up to 57.8 from 53.7 in 2024, with tries per game up to 8.2 from 7.3 the previous season.

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Other notable on-field statistics were a historically low average of 2.1 penalty goal attempts per game, and those kickers averaged 42 seconds compared to 1 minute 8 seconds in 2024.

Scrums have also become quicker, with the mark to “crouch” down to 29 seconds from 45, while static time per game is down by almost a minute, at 55.09 minutes.

The pace of the game seems to have appealed to fans, with total match attendance across the competition increased six per cent year-on-year, defying a reduction in total regular season games from 84 to 77.

In Australia, pay-TV broadcaster Stan Sport announced a 27 per cent increase in average audience across the regular season, while average free-to-air audiences on Nine grew by 13 per cent.

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Australia has two teams in the revamped six-team finals with the ACT Brumbies moving through in third spot and Queensland in fifth.

Both sides broke long-standing hoodoos in 2025, with the Brumbies winning at Eden Park for the first time since 2013 and the Reds ending a 13-year drought against the Highlanders in New Zealand.

Super Rugby Pacific game metrics

* Game Length (excluding half-time): 1h30m11s (2025), 1h31m7s (2024)

* Static Time (excluding half-time): 55m09s (2025), 56m04s (2024)

* Penalty Kick Time: 42s (2025), 1m8s (2024)

* Conversion Kick Time: 55s (2025), 1m9s (2024)

* Scrums (mark to “crouch”): 29s (2025), 45s (2024)

* Lineout (mark to formed): 18s (2025), 25s (2024)

* Points per game: 57.8 (2025), 53.7 (2024)

* Tries per game: 8.2 (2025), 7.3 (2024)

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RedWarriors 3 hours ago
'Not a normal rugby team' - The Leinster flex that floored Jake White

I was actually at the match. Leinster were the outstanding team in the league stage. Leinster’s squad depth meant the Bulls could only nick a late win in Pretoria against an understrenght Leinster. Simple put, Leinster are significantly better this year compared to last. The Dublin match last year was a big win by Leinster. Yes they won by a point in the RDS three years ago but thats not relevant to yesterday.

As Leinster are such a dangerous team, it forces an opponent to focus on a strategy to undermine them and that way get their game on the pitch. Leinster allowed that against Northampton. But that was not going to happen again. The Bulls attack in last 10 minutes of the first half was as savage as anything in the URC this year. Yet Leinsters coaching plan repelled them allied to savage commitment from the players. The defense was outstanding, pressure at breakdown outstanding. Leinster did not win the European cup but arguably at their best this year no other European team could reach that height. They reached that yesterday. Leinster completely removed Bulls ability to hurt them.

And Croke Park….100 years ago the Brits fired machine guns into spectators injuring 100s and killing loads. No Irish team ever performs badly there. Same with Irish supporters. Opposition players might as well be Brit Tommies with machine guns.

I think a great Leinster team, played a great game plan, to the height of their power in a horrible stadium for opponents. If Bulls score before half time they were back in the match. They went down, but they went down fighting.

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