The three performers of the week from Super Rugby Pacific round eight

The Easter Round of Super Rugby Pacific saw the Crusaders bid farewell to the competition’s most imposing fortress, Apollo Projects Stadium. The Fijian Drua, with their woeful away record, were always on a hiding to nothing and lost heavily 69-26 in a celebratory night for Codie Taylor.

The Chiefs overpowered the Waratahs 42-14 in Hamilton. Quinn Tupaea was exceptional again, but another All Black was even more explosive.

The leading Aussie contenders appear to be fading at the halfway mark. The Reds joined the Brumbies with three defeats after a shock loss against the Force.

Who were the performers of the week in round eight of Super Rugby Pacific?

Codie Taylor (Crusaders)

The farewell of Apollo Projects Stadium turned into a milestone-shattering night for 106-Test All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor.

His club, Sydenham, performed a haka before kick-off as Codie, joined by his family, took the field for his 150th Crusaders game at the same ground where he made his Crusaders debut in a 55-20 win against the Southern Kings in 2013.

He also played his 50th (lost 3-12 v British & Irish Lions, 2017) and 100th (won 31-29 v Brumbies, 2021) Crusaders matches at the Apollo.

Against the Drua, Taylor became the first New Zealand forward to score four tries in a Super Rugby match and just the 14th Kiwi and fourth Crusaders forward to score a hat-trick in a 69-26 win.

This marked the Crusaders’ 100th win at Apollo in just 122 matches. The Brumbies took 133 matches to reach 100 wins at GIO Stadium in Canberra. The Hurricanes took 145 at Hnry Stadium in Wellington.

Additionally, the Crusaders posted their highest score against Drua, surpassing the 61 scored in 2022.

The lineout operated flawlessly (15/15), and Taylor contributed seven tackles in a vintage display.

Taylor scored more tries than any other player at the Apollo, with 36 in 95 appearances, including one on his All Blacks debut at the venue in a 39-18 win over Argentina in 2015.

He also holds the record for the most tries by a Super Rugby forward with 53, with Scott Higginbotham on 41 and Ardie Savea on 39 behind.

Taylor has won 114 of his 150 Crusaders games and has been part of eight Super Rugby titles. He is the ninth Crusader to play 150 games. All of them have won 100 or more Super Rugby matches.

“We talked a lot about channelling the emotion into a performance we could be really proud of,” Taylor said. ‘We wanted to leave our mark on this place. What was meant to be temporary has so much history now, and those memories will last forever.”

Samipeni Finau (Chiefs)

The Waratahs horror run in New Zealand continued, dropping their 11th consecutive match; eight of the last nine, conceding 40 or more points. The Waratahs have not beaten the Chiefs in Hamilton since 2010.

Blindside Samipeni Finau has struggled to get regular minutes in 2026, appearing for only 146 minutes across five matches before Saturday.

Against the Waratahs the dozen Test All Black was at his belligerent best. Just ask Siosifa Amone, who fell victim to a crushing missile of a tackle.

Finau’s impact is not easily measured by the stats sheet. Moments like the Amone wipeout and a later try make him a formidable prospect. It’s Jerry Collins-like.

Kyren Taumoefolau is another who’s struggled for regular minutes. His two tries and 96 meters gained in possession for the Chiefs underscored why the dazzling Tasman talent was lured from Moana Pasifika to Hamilton.

Franco Molina (Western Force) 

Statistically, the Western Force appeared to have little chance of beating the Reds in Brisbane. The Reds had won 9 of their last 11 games against the Force and six in a row in Queensland. The Force had lost 22 of their last 24 games as the away team.

Instead, the Force rampaged to a memorable 42-19 victory, their largest against the Reds since a 38-3 hiding in 2007. In that game, Wallaby Cameron Shepherd piled on 23 points.

In reality, the Force have been better than their dire winning record in 2026 illustrates. They rank inside the top four for the best lineout in the competition, a weapon that has genuinely challenged quality teams. In the first five-eighth Ben Donaldson, they have a Wallabies pivot who has led the player of the season voting at the halfway mark of the campaign.

Missing the typically consistent Wallabies lock, Jeremy Williams, against the Reds could have been a problem. Instead, Franco Molina played like a man possessed. His bushy face, with cuts and bandages, looked like Spartacus after a bar fight.

Molina became just the second Force forward after Nic Dolly in a 52-15 win against Fijian Drua in 2025 to score a hat-trick.

Additionally, Molina ranked inside the top five for carries (14), meters gained (73), defenders beaten (5), and lineout catches (5) as the Force secured all 19 of their own lineout throws, disrupted three of the Reds’, and battered the hosts into submission. The Reds were forced to make 107 more tackles.

Molina had only averaged 33 minutes per game across six appearances this season but produced an 80-minute performance that showed why he’s featured in some of Argentina’s biggest wins recently, including two wins against the All Blacks: 38-30 in Wellington in 2024 and 29-23 in Buenos Aires in 2025.

He also played in the record 67-27 drubbing of Australia in Santa Fe in 2024, the rare 29-28 upset of the world champion Springboks in Santiago del Estero in 2024, and the 28-24 win over the British and Irish Lions in Dublin in 2025.

Molina has been an international teammate of 121-Test Pumas legend Pablo Matera, who played for the 2022 Crusaders Super Rugby Championship-winning team and earned three official Man of the Match awards in his 14 appearances.