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'Tough pill to swallow': Ardie Savea 'gutted' as Hurricanes' title chances take a big blow

(Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea says his side’s 12-10 defeat to the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday is “a pretty tough pill to swallow”.

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However, the 27-year-old loose forward remains optimistic leading into the final round of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, even if the Hurricanes now stand as an outside chance of making the final on June 19.

Needing a victory to stay in the top two of the competition, and a bonus point to go into first place, the Hurricanes were denied victory as Jordie Barrett missed two penalties in the final three minutes to leave the Wellingtonians trailing by two points at full-time.

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What Richie Mo’unga must do to keep the All Blacks No 10 jersey off Beauden Barrett | Aotearoa Rugby Pod | RugbyPass

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What Richie Mo’unga must do to keep the All Blacks No 10 jersey off Beauden Barrett | Aotearoa Rugby Pod | RugbyPass

Not only was it their first loss to an Australian franchise this season, the result also keeps the Hurricanes in fourth place, two competition points astray from a finals berth with one round to play in the regular season.

As such, the Hurricanes now need to beat the Reds in Wellington on Friday and hope two of the three teams above them – the Blues, Highlanders or Crusaders – slip up against the Force, Brumbies and Rebels, respectively.

Given their status as title frontrunners leading into their clash in the Australian capital, their fall down the ladder has come as a bitter blow for Savea, who said he and his side knew their trip to GIO Stadium wouldn’t be easy.

“It’s a pretty tough pill to swallow,” Savea told Channel Nine shortly after the match.

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Tonight, we knew coming to Canberra was going to be a tough one and, the Brumbies boys, they were going to bring it physically and they certainly did that.

“Just missed out in the end there in the end. Pretty gutted, to be honest, but it is what it is.”

Barrett’s two unsuccessful penalty attempts late on in the match weren’t the only chances the Hurricanes had to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Reserve prop Alex Fidow crossed over for what could have been the match-winning try in the 74th minute, but a TMO review overruled the decision as Savea was deemed to have knocked the ball on in the lead-up to the try.

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The decision may be seen as a controversial one considering how close Savea came to catching it, but the 49-test All Black took the call on the chin, even if he didn’t agree with it.

“I’ll always say it wasn’t a knock on, but the ref’s the ref and he makes the final decision, so we’ve got to live with that and move forward. There’s a lot more opportunities in that game, we could have closed it off, but we didn’t take it,” he said.

“Like I said, gutted right now, but we’ve got next week to work on.”

Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa, meanwhile, compared the fixture to that of a test match due to the intensity of the occasion.

“You’ve got to be pleased with that effort,” the 43-test Wallabies prop said of his team’s first-up win in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.

“The boys dug deep there and it was just good to be back home and just very grateful to get the win.”

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R
RedWarrior 1 hour ago
Three-way race to be number one in World Rugby men's rankings

IF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.


As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.


Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).

This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.

If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.

Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.

After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.

Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.


Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)

Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.

Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.


Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.


Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:


Seeding Band 1

IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG

Seeding Band 2

SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: FIJI

1/8 final opponent GEORGIA

Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA

1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND

Prognosis: You know the prognosis


I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?


Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.

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