Super Rugby Pacific has just one regular season round to run in 2024, with 11 of the 12 teams still capable of playing finals football.
You can read all about the final-round implications for the top eight here.
But read on as we review Round 14, where there were wins for the Hurricanes, Brumbies, Moana Pasifika, Crusaders, Reds and Highlanders.
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WRIGHT FIRMING FOR WALLABIES FULLBACK, BUT …
It was always going to be intriguing to see how those players snubbed by Eddie Jones last year bounced back in 2024. Almost to a man, they have been among the standout Australian performers in Super Rugby this year.
Harry Wilson, Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau are all surely headed for a recall this year, the Reds No. 8 when he has recovered from a devastating broken arm suffered against the Rebels a fortnight ago. And then there is Brumbies fullback Tom Wright, who is probably jostling with Fraser McReight as the Australian player of the year to date.
Wright was again brilliant on Friday night against the Rebels, the fullback backing up his outstanding – and at times daring – performance in the win over the Crusaders a week earlier, with another fine display in attack.
The 26-year-old flyer finished with two tries from nine runs, with a further 66 metres, three clean breaks and seven beaten defenders against the Rebels, underlining his attacking threat.
But it was his first try, almost out of nothing, that reflects the double-edged sword in Wright’s game, or at least that both the Brumbies and Wallabies coaches need to continually work on the mental side of the fullback’s game.
Wright stepped brilliantly back inside a number of Rebels players late in the first half of the 53-17 win, finding a seam which took him straight into, and over the top of, Rebels flanker Brad Wilkin. Usually a sound defender, Wilkin was little more than a speedbump as Wright rumbled over the top of him to slam the ball down next to the posts.
But Wright then decided to throw the ball at Rebels hooker Jordan Uelese in a kind of mocking celebration that just wasn’t required, sparking a minor scuffle between both sides that thankfully did not escalate.
You can guarantee that Wright’s indiscretion – albeit incredibly minor – won’t have been lost on the Brumbies’ finals rivals, nor the All Blacks, Springboks and Pumas who the Wallabies will confront later this year.
Teams are already aware that Wright plays on the edge, and loves nothing more than taking a risk, particularly on the counterattack. And when it goes wrong, just as it did against the Pumas in Sydney last year, it can result in a match-turning error.
Simply, Wright doesn’t need to make himself a target of opposition niggle.
Regardless, Joe Schmidt will find it incredibly hard to leave Wright out given his superb form this year. It may just be that Andrew Kellaway is inserted into the back three on the right wing to bring a calming influence onto the Brumbies star – and help him avoid incidents like the one with Uelese on Friday night.
HURRICANES, CHIEFS TURN ON THE STYLE
If we get a Super Rugby Pacific decider close to what the Hurricanes and Chiefs produced in Hamilton in Round 15, then supporters and competition administrators will be more than satisfied after the two Kiwi outfits turned on an 80-minute thriller that was eventually decided by a controversial late penalty – more on than later.
Earlier, Hurricanes prop Xavier Numia charged off on a 35-metre run to the line for one of the individual tries of the year – from a prop at least – the All Blacks hopeful turning Shaun Stevenson outside than in before barging his way over with the help of Jordie Barrett.
Later in the first half it was Barrett who found himself in the clear, the Leinster-bound centre finishing off a simple lineout set play that moved between Peter Lakai, Brayden Iose and Josh Moorby, the winger drawing Etene Nanai-Seturo to put Barrett away and the Hurricanes out to a 14-0 lead, despite a first-half red card to Raymond Tuputupu.
Needing a response early in the second half, the Chiefs struck with a free-running move of their own as the ball was shifted to the right touchline to Anton Lienert-Brown, the All Blacks centre beating a defender before passing back inside the Emoni Narawa for a vital early score.
Three quality tries in what was a quality Super Rugby Pacific clash. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the three-point loss means they cannot improve upon their current fourth-place position, their quarterfinal opponents the Reds also confirmed after the weekend’s results.
HOTHAM, RYAN CONTINUE BREAKOUT SEASONS
The Crusaders remain a mathematical chance of playing finals football after they rounded out one of the worst weeks in the club’s history with an upset win over the Blues in Christchurch.
In front of a near capacity crowd, the Crusaders showed more than enough to suggest they could claim a high-profile quarterfinal victim if they do beat Moana next weekend and two further results fall their way.
While their scrum put the Blues through the ringer, a week after they had demolished the Brumbies set-piece, the performance of scrum-half Noah Hotham again caught the eye. There had been more than a few questions raised around Noah Hotham’s lack of playing time this season, and you can see why after the No. 9 proved his quality both with ball in hand and from the boot in the 29-27 win.
Hotham looks an All Blacks scrum-half in the making, though given the established quality New Zealand have in that position he may have to wait a year or two.
Queensland winger Tim Ryan may not have to wait so long, however, after he scored a second hat-trick in his debut Super Rugby season in the Reds’ crushing win over the Force.
While Ryan did not have to work as hard as he did for his three tries in his jaw-dropping run-on debut against the Blues earlier this year, he did again demonstrate his finishing quality – running through a bout of cramp for his third try in the process.
With Mark Nawaqanitawase headed to rugby league at the end of the year, Schmidt may want to look to the future, the British & Irish Lions series in particular, and that may count against the Waratahs’ fullback over the coming months.
Andrew Kellaway, Tom Wright, Corey Toole, Marika Koroibete, Jock Campbell, Dylan Pietsch and Jordan Petaia [currently injured] could all be ahead of Ryan in the selection stakes, but the 20-year-old could be doing little more to impress Schmidt.
His back three Reds teammate Mac Grealy was also particularly strong against the Force. （By Sam Bruce）
