Super Rugby 2025
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@Canes4life very good player. One of Japan’s best and most consistent - would be a handy pick up for them. I believe Blackadder (his club coach) rates him very highly so surprised they are letting him go easily
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@Yeetyaah said in Super Rugby 2025:
Only super team he follows on instaI’d take him over Tucker any day then.
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Was he the one that made that rapid break away try against the ABs that was then disallowed? I remember thinking he looked very athletic for a lock
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Tuesday 3 June
Super Rugby Pacific reaches new heights in 2025
The latest metrics out of Super Rugby Pacific reveal the competition has surged in popularity and engagement in 2025, on the back of a season featuring record high scores, more competitive contests and thrilling finishes.Data from the now-completed regular season confirms Super Rugby Pacific encounters are faster than ever before, with reduced stoppages and quicker restarts of play, and have produced more unexpected results.
Positive trends in on-field metrics sourced from data provider Opta have been matched by strong growth in viewership, match attendance and digital engagement.
OFF-FIELD METRICS
Total match attendance across the competition has increased 6 per cent year-on-year, defying a reduction in total regular season games from 84 to 77.
In Australia, Stan Sport has confirmed 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.
In New Zealand, more than 1.83 million people have tuned in on Sky Sport and Sky Open, while digital viewership on Sky Go and Sky Sport Now grew by more than 19 per cent.
In Fiji concurrent viewership on the Walesi App peaked at 395,436 – more than a third of the Fijian population.
Super Rugby Pacific became the first domestic rugby competition in the world to achieve a total social media following of 2.5 million, driven by a 25 per cent increase in year-on-year follower growth.
More than 70,000 fans played Fantasy Super Rugby Pacific, making more than 4.5 million player trades across the season.ON-FIELD METRICS
Almost half of games (43.1 per cent) have produced winning margins of seven points or less.
Currently the second-highest scoring Super Rugby season of all time, with an average of 57.8 points per game.
A historically low average of 2.1 penalty goal attempts per game reflecting teams favouring attacking, running rugby.
Increased jeopardy within games with an average of 4.1 lead changes per match, more than half of games (54.2 per cent) having a lead change in the second half, and more than a quarter of games (26.4 per cent) a lead change in the final ten minutes.*
That jeopardy extends to match results with almost half of games (48.6 per cent) reversing a result from 2024.*
The gap of 31 competition points between the last-placed Highlanders and first-placed Chiefs is the smallest margin between first and last since 2004.
‘Hoodoos’ being broken – Queensland Reds beating the Highlanders in New Zealand for the first time since 2012, ACT Brumbies winning at Eden Park for the first time since 2013, the Hurricanes ending a six-game winless run against the Brumbies in Canberra, Moana Pasifika recording their first-ever victories over the Highlanders, Blues and Crusaders.“The momentum is clear,” Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley said.
"Across the competition, there’s a shared vision to deliver a brand of rugby that is fast, engaging and truly connects with our members and fans.
"Week after week, this season has produced edge-of-your-seat action - from high-scoring clashes to nail-biting finishes, stunning comebacks and teams rewriting history.
"From the rising TV audiences and growth in match attendance this year, to the surge in digital activity through Fantasy and social media, all signs tell us that Super Rugby Pacific is heading in the right direction.
“With the promise of an epic Finals Series ahead, we look forward to capping off this milestone season with a spectacular finale.”
Super Rugby Pacific - Shape of 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)*Data provided by Professor Dimitri Perrin, Co-Director QUT Centre for Data Science and Queensland Reds Head of Data Science
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With the round robin now over, it would be interesting to see how many players from each team never took the field. I am not talking about those with long-term injuries, but the squad players who have spent the season training but never playing.
For the Chiefs, the only players who have never played a minute are Fiti Sa and Liam Coombes-Fabling, both returning from off-season surgery. All other players had some time on the field (not many for Trask).
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@Bovidae Yeah think for Canes it might have been Siale Lauaki, Arese Poliko & Lucas Cashmore
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@DurryMexted said in Super Rugby 2025:
@Bovidae Yeah think for Canes it might have been Siale Lauaki, Arese Poliko & Lucas Cashmore
Kade Banks, Daniel Sinkinson and Tjay Clarke never took the field more than once as well.
Lauaki played against Moana Pasifika. His single appearance surprised me after a very good NPC.
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@hikastags said in Super Rugby 2025:
Interesting, the Canes will have their best squad since 2015/2016 next year so if they can get Dearns as well, that would be a huge coup.
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@Canes4life said in Super Rugby 2025:
@DurryMexted said in Super Rugby 2025:
@Bovidae Yeah think for Canes it might have been Siale Lauaki, Arese Poliko & Lucas Cashmore
Kade Banks, Daniel Sinkinson and Tjay Clarke never took the field more than once as well.
Lauaki played against Moana Pasifika. His single appearance surprised me after a very good NPC.
Josh Taula and Tom Allen were others.
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@Canes4life funnily enough Josh Taula was away from the Canes for a few weeks in Japan with the NZ University team, not even sure if the Canes social media ever mentioned that
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@Grooter said in Super Rugby 2025:
@Canes4life funnily enough Josh Taula was away from the Canes for a few weeks in Japan with the NZ University team, not even sure if the Canes social media ever mentioned that
Better for him to be playing I guess.
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There are probably at least ten permutuions for the semis.
For example, Blues, Reds and Canes win. Crusaders and Brumbies out. Does that then make Canes top seeds for semi's? If so, they play Blues and Reds go to Hamilton.
And where would the final be?
Not much written about such unlikely scenarios?
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@Bovidae said in Super Rugby 2025:
With the round robin now over, it would be interesting to see how many players from each team never took the field. I am not talking about those with long-term injuries, but the squad players who have spent the season training but never playing.
For the Chiefs, the only players who have never played a minute are Fiti Sa and Liam Coombes-Fabling, both returning from off-season surgery. All other players had some time on the field (not many for Trask).
Ake Darry Grindlay Spencer Paul for Blues
Cashmore Poliko Taula Allen for Canes
Brewis Gardiner for Sanders
Michaels Sanders and poss Wingham for Landers
Papuni and Fomai for MP
Sa and Coombes fabling for Chiefs.
Hard to fathom the Blues and Canes treatment of some young players. -
For anyone still confused on the finals format for this year's competition, below are all the possible playoff scenarios from the quarter finals this week.
Scenario 1
Winners: Chiefs, Crusaders and Brumbies
Semifinals: Chiefs (1) v Hurricanes (4), Crusaders (2) v Brumbies (3)Scenario 2
Winners: Chiefs, Crusaders and Hurricanes
Semifinals: Chiefs (1) v Brumbies (4), Crusaders (2) v Hurricanes (3)Scenario 3
Winners: Chiefs, Reds and Brumbies
Semifinals: Chiefs (1) v Reds (4), Brumbies (2) v Crusaders (3)Scenario 4
Winners: Chiefs, Reds and Hurricanes
Semifinals: Chiefs (1) v Reds (4), Hurricanes (2) v Crusaders (3)Scenario 5
Winners: Blues, Crusaders and Brumbies
Semifinals: Crusaders (1) v Blues (4), Chiefs (2) v Brumbies (3)Scenario 6
Winners: Blues, Crusaders and Hurricanes
Semifinals: Crusaders (1) v Blues (4), Chiefs (2) v Hurricanes (3)Scenario 7
Winners: Blues, Reds and Brumbies
Semifinals: Brumbies (1) v Blues (4), Chiefs (2) v Reds (3)Scenario 8
Winners: Blues, Reds and Hurricanes
Semifinals: Hurricanes (1) v Blues (4), Chiefs (2) v Reds (3) -
@ARHS said in Super Rugby 2025:
Ake Darry Grindlay Spencer Paul for Blues
Darry & Paul injured obviously
Ake was injured early on and was expected to be named after the bye midway through the season. He tweaked his shoulder injury that week. We never had another update on him.. I assume the shoulder didn't fully recover?
Not sure if they intended to play Spencer this year given all the fullbacks in the squad
They don't seem to rate Grindlay. Another young midfielder, Taele, got plenty of game time
