Super Rugby Pacific: Best signing for 2025, player who has under delivered

The RugbyPass Round Table writers answer the big questions at the mid-point of the Super Rugby Pacific 2025 season. Finn Morton (FM), Henry Lee (HL), Ben Smith (BS), and Ned Lester (NL) weigh in on who the best signing of 2025 is at the halfway point, as well as the competition’s most underwhelming player and the Blues season grade.

Which player/s have been the best signing/s of the SRP 2025 season?

NL: Veveni Lasaqa has emerged as the find of the season for the Highlanders.

While recruitments like that of Ardie Savea and even Caleb Tangitau have seen players with established pedigree or promise thrive in new roles, Lasaqa was a more under-the-radar pick-up ahead of the 2025 season.

The 23-year-old has as many dominant hits as anyone this season and is proving to be a quality attacking threat in the wide channels.

Highlanders boss Jamie Joseph has been on a tear with his recruitment since rejoining the club, and his eye for talent doesn’t compromise on the winning characteristics. 

Lasaqa has been a central figure in the best Highlanders performances of the year and has a very bright future ahead.

HL: Patrick Pellegrini for me.

The Tongan International was first sighted in pre-season where his impact off the bench against the Highlanders was clear, and it wasn’t long before Moana Pasifika head coach Tana Umaga got him involved in the lineup. What’s most impressive about Pellegrini is his elite kicking game not only from the tee, but his tactical in-play kicking game has been one of the best in the competition.

He’s helped Moana Pasifika get on the front foot more often than not and has put them in field position to attack with their strength up front and flair in the backs. The two recent occasions to leave Pellegrini on the bench have been baffling, especially with how effective he was from the start against both the Crusaders and the Hurricanes in previous weeks.

Pellegrini has the highest goal-kicking percentage in the competition at a very respectable 83.3 per cent and has 61 points with two tries to add to that.

Moana Pasifika teammate Ardie Savea is a valid shout, but the unexpected and largely unknown positive impact that Pellegrini has had when he has played, just puts him above the world-renowned class that Ardie Savea brings to the table.

FM: Taha Kemara stands out as one of the most-improved players in Super Rugby this season,  with the youngster leading the Crusaders to the top of the grid. The Crusaders wouldn’t be the same force without Kemara, who himself wouldn’t be as solid at No. 10 without James O’Connor.

As gentle waves crashed against the shore at Sydney’s Little Bay about one week before the new season got underway, Braydon Ennor was asked about James O’Connor. Ennor described the former Wallaby as a “coffee addict” before explaining O’Connor’s importance to the team.

“We’re really looking forward to having him,” Ennor told RugbyPass. “A really level, calm head that can help grow our first five stocks. We’ve got a really good group this year with Taha and Rivez [Reihana] and James.”

O’Connor has only started one Super Rugby match since making a shock move across the ditch, and it was a historic loss to Moana Pasifika in Christchurch. Coach Rob Penney has otherwise called on the recruit to come off the pine, with Kemara regularly named in the starting side.

Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui recently suggested on Stan Sport that O’Connor could be in the frame for a shock Test recall to face the British & Irish Lions. Yes, O’Connor has helped Kemara grow as a footy player, but the playmaker has been solid himself.

BS: There have been many savvy signings this season which have paid off which are worthy of mentions.

The Crusaders signing Wellington-product Kyle Preston has proved to be a smart piece of business, paying dividends immediately when he scored three tries on debut against his hometown franchise. The Chiefs have uncovered a real weapon out wide in Leroy Carter who has been one of the best wingers in the competition. Moana Pasifika playmaker Patrick Pellegrini, who was my breakout player. New Highlanders finisher Caleb Tangitau has seen his career prospects boom down south. Behind Caleb Clarke and Mark Tele’a, Tangitau may have been sitting for years, instead he’s outperformed both and thrust himself into the All Black conversation.

But there is a clear and obvious best signing for 2025, and it has to go to Moana Pasifika for picking up the 2023 World Player of the Year Ardie Savea.

Savea has performed exceptionally well, disproving the voices that said his move would be bad for his game. Moana have built a power game that has knocked off the leading team with Savea in the forward pack. They’ve been competitive and look on the way up.

It’s not just the on-field performance which makes this the best signing. Moana Pasifika started at square one when the franchise launched a few years ago, at Mt Smart they really struggled to get attendance. The future looked very uncertain at that stage. In 2025 the crowds have risen at their Albany base, their social media presence is one of the best in Super Rugby and Savea has helped Moana build this momentum.

Moana Pasifika are beginning to establish themselves and build a real fan base with Savea’s presence.

Which player/s have under delivered in 2025 so far?

NL: Finlay Christie has been a contentious figure for a few years now, but after missing out on All Blacks selection at the back end of 2024, the halfback has failed to bounce back in ’25.

Aimless kicking and a lack of X-factor on attack have soured the 29-year-old’s campaign to date, while his calling card, his defence, has also dropped off.

The Aucklander has made 46 tackles in eight games and missed 10. Credit where it’s due for a few good try assists but Christie needed to come back stronger than ever to re-establish himself as an All Black, and that just hasn’t happened.

HL: I think both Caleb Clarke and Levi Aumua will be disappointed with the way the season has gone so far.

Clarke had an exceptional campaign in 2024 for the championship-winning Blues, but in 2025, he hasn’t shown the same sort of form. Clarke is yet to score a try this season for the Blues and hasn’t had the same sort of impact he had last year.

Clarke was consistently picked on the left wing for the All Blacks in 2024, showing signs of how destructive he can be in the air, and with the ball in hand. But Clarke’s form has taken a hit due to the poor form of the Blues, likely hurting his chances of starting for the All Blacks as Robertson has an abundance of options.

Levi Aumua was one of the best up-and-coming talents at Moana Pasifika and Tasman when he burst on the scene, but since his move south to the Crusaders, he’s struggled to showcase that talent. Injuries to Braydon Ennor and positional shifts to Dallas McLeod have often seen Aumua in the starting lineup, but his defensive discipline has always been an issue, and never really built on his solid start to his Super Rugby career.

One of the biggest indicators of this is the impact Ennor had upon his return from injury against the Force in round five. Look, Aumua can still be a very effective player in Super Rugby Pacific, but we haven’t seen him at his best yet in a Crusaders jersey.

FM: Tane Edmed struggled at times during last season’s Super Rugby campaign, but an opportunity with North Harbour in New Zealand’s NPC seemed to be a turning point. Edmed was included in the Wallabies’ Spring Tour squad, with the playmaker debuting against world no. 2 Ireland.

With the British & Irish Lions Series just around the corner, 2025 was supposed to be another big year for Edmed, who shaped up as the clear front-runner to wear the sky blue no. 10 jersey at the Waratahs. That’s how the season started too, but then Dan McKellar made a change.

After dramatic wins over the Highlanders and Fijian Drua, coach McKellar replaced Edmed with Lawson Creighton in the Waratahs’ starting side. Creighton has taken each opportunity with both hands in the weeks since, including last week’s shock upset win over the Chiefs.

James O’Connor recently suggested that Creighton is now in the frame for Test selection behind Tom Lynagh and Ben Donaldson, with Noah Lolesio penning a short-term deal in Japan which is expected to rule the Brumby out of Wallabies contention.

In comparison, Edmed wasn’t even included in the Waratahs’ 23 to take on the Chiefs at Allianz Stadium a week ago. Edmed has been named on the bench to take on the Drua in Lautoka this weekend, though, but Creighton is still the team’s main man in attack.

There’s no doubt Edmed is a very talented footy player, but this season could’ve gone a whole lot different and probably should’ve.

BS: The team that has underdelivered the most has to be the Blues, so it stands to reason that their players are front and centre for this category.

Championships bring high expectations but the Blues have had one of the worst championship hangovers in all of pro sport. That they are really in the mix for the wooden spoon after round 10 is beyond disastrous for a franchise that just lifted the monkey off the back after a 20 plus year drought.

The departure of Akira Ioane from the championship-winning side is the only big change from last year’s team, while All Black legend Beauden Barrett returned to boost the roster after a stint overseas. Most of the team is back but they have languished, losing close games that they really shouldn’t have.

It’s a team game, so the team is responsible, but you’d think that Rieko Ioane, one of the highest paid players in the country, would have produced more. We all want to see more of Rieko at his best on attack but there is no doubt we have not in 2025.

From nine games he has just seven defenders beaten from 70 carries, with four line breaks. Some numbers from his midfield competitors as a yardstick, Anton Lienert-Brown has 13 defenders beaten from just four games, Quinn Tupaea has 18, Tavatavanawai has 41 at both inside centre and wing, at the Hurricanes Peter Umaga-Jensen has 22 while Bailyn Sullivan has 21.

The Blues forward-focused game plan won the title last year so you could stomach less action out wide while things were working. In 2025, they are not working and the Blues haven’t really started the Rieko Ioane engine or found a way to get their star centre going.

It’s a shame as Ioane is the poster boy for New Zealand Rugby and one of the few stars that pull in viewers in the battle with the NRL.

What grade do you give the Blues for their encore season so far?

NL: The Blues had a very disappointing start to this season, no question about it, but have been growing into the campaign to the point where they have gone toe-to-toe with the best and only narrowly fallen short.

There’s no consolation prize for almost winning, but this is still a side you wouldn’t want to meet in the playoffs should they sneak in.

Still, in a season where attacking play has exploded and excitement levels have reached fever-pitch, the Blues have been one of two teams who missed the memo and have failed to produce.

As reigning champions the season has been woeful, but all hope is not yet lost. As it stands, the season gets a D.

HL: C- . It would be a lot lower (If you think it could get any lower), but they recently won back-to-back games and have started to execute Vern Cotter’s game plan at a higher level.

Last year they bullied their way to a Super Rugby Pacific title, which they tried to replicate early on this season. It didn’t work, and they clearly missed the physicality of Akira Ioane. They now seem to be on the right track, as they’ve figured out how to adapt their 2024 game plan to this season’s squad.

Six or seven wins is the predicted number that teams will need to get into the six-team playoffs this year, meaning the Blues only have to win half of their remaining games to make the playoffs.

If Beauden Barrett is at No.10 for the remaining games, they will win enough games to make the playoffs.

FM: To say the Blues’ title defence hasn’t gone to plan would be an understatement. With three wins from eight matches, the Blues face an uphill battle to make the playoffs at all, let alone be in a position to prove they’re the kings of the Super Rugby castle once again.

Up until this point, the Blues would consider themselves quite lucky to receive a ‘D’ grade or a taking or 3/10. When you consider what was expected of this team going into the season, it could be argued that an even harsher view would be a true reflection of their campaign.

That said, don’t count out the Blues. Not yet, at least.

The Blues have shown signs of growth over the last couple of weeks, with the return of All Black Beauden Barrett the key to their success. Barrett was arguably the Player of the Round when the Blues beat the Hurricanes, and the playmaker also stood out against Moana.

With Barrett at the wheel, the Blues are more than capable of a late charge up the ladder in a bid to play finals in just a matter of weeks. With very winnable games against the Force, Drua, Moana and Waratahs ahead, the Blues could sneak into the top six.

If that happens, let’s review the grade from above.

BS: It’s an F. The 2025 season is a failure, no bones about it.

To win a championship and then be sitting eighth in an 11 team competition the next season after 10 rounds is inexcusable. No one at the Blues will be happy with results, despite some periods of positive play and competitive matches.

When you think of the quality of the roster, how loaded this squad was coming off a championship, with Beauden Barrett returning, it’s a massive failure.

They should be looking at securing a home-field playoff run, instead they are in a fight to avoid the wooden spoon with one eye on trying to make the six.

It’s still feasible they make the playoffs, but that’s not where this team should be.

F.