Unlikely pair of first five-eighths headline Super Rugby Pacific performers of the week

The seventh round of Super Rugby Pacific only featured four matches, but wasn’t devoid of drama, with Moana Pasifika achieving the greatest win in their short history of struggle.

Have the Hurricanes solved their first-five problems with a Crusaders discard? Are the Reds genuine title contenders, finding a way to win without several household names?

Here the top performers from the latest round of Super Rugby Pacific.

Riley Hohepa (Hurricanes) 

The ten jersey has been a poisoned chalice for the Hurricanes with Brett Cameron, Lucas Cashmore, Harry Godfrey and Callum Harkin all succumbing to injury.

That left 2024 Crusaders discard Riley Hohepa as the only starting choice for the Hurricanes against the Warathas.

Hohepa has had an inauspicious start to his Super Rugby career. In six appearances for the Crusaders he lost five times. Before Friday, his 142 minutes off the bench for the Hurricanes have been largely forgettable with an out of position missed tackle on Mark Tele’a costly in the Hurricanes defeat to the lowly Blues.

Unperturbed by previous struggles, Hohepa played a blinder in the Hurricanes 57-12 slaying of the Warathas in Wellington.

He had a hand in two tries with a deft pass and cunning kick, performing with a growing authority that allowed the hosts backline to click. Fullback Ruben Love created four tries with his timely and creative injections. Hohepa also slotted four conversions with one of those a sideline success.

A product of the Patumahoe club in South Auckland, Hohepa didn’t debut for Counties in the NPC until he was 24 in 2019. He has played 39 games for the Steelers and scored 206 points with a winning drop goal in a 23-22 victory over Otago in 2022 noteworthy.

Hohepa was injury cover for the Hurricanes in 2023. In December 2024, he was signed to a full-time contract and announced on the official website.

“I’ve worked in civil earth moving for about 10 years now, and I still get back on site in between seasons. It’s a good shock to the system getting back into the real world, but it helps bring me back down to earth, and I’m more disciplined because of it.”

Meanwhile, there was another livewire performance from Du Plessis Kirfi, topping the tackle count with 17 and snaffling three turnovers.

The Hurricanes have won their last 20 matches against Australian opposition at home. The last Aussie side to beat the Hurricanes in New Zealand was the 2015 Warathas.

Nick Frost (Brumbies) 

The Brumbies’ 34-27 win over the Highlanders was an absorbing contrast in styles, featuring six lead changes.

The Brumbies scrum and forward pack was especially productive with the Highlanders outside backs keeping the visitors in the contest.

The Brumbies lineout wasn’t always reliable, but Nick Frost delivered when it counted. Two catches he secured in the 72nd and 76th minutes were crucial in the lead-up to tries, while Frost poached a steal in the 57th minute. In the 77th minute, Frost carried strongly, punching over the advantage line. From the next phase centre Len Ikitau crashed over for the winning try.

In addition to his push from the second row of the scrum Frost made 10 tackles, the second highest tally in the Brumbies.

Frost has won more lineouts (34) than any forward in Super Rugby, and having started 20 of his 25 Wallabies Tests shapes as a key figure against a formidable British and Irish Lions lineout later in the year.

Patrick Pellegrini (Moana Pasifika)

The Crusaders had won all four Super Rugby Pacific games against Moana Pasifika, scoring an average of 38.8 points per game before their stunning 45-29 loss in Christchurch on Saturday.

Moana Pasifika is a different beast with the presence of New Zealand’s best player, Ardie Savea (case and point for a draft), and the All Blacks talisman was to the fore, scoring two tone-setting tries in the opening quarter as well as topping his side’s carry count and finishing with nine tackles.

In the backline first-five Patrick Pellegrini has been a revelation. Brilliant in the 40-31 victory over the Hurricanes, he was even better in this contest.

Pellegrini kicked seven goals from eight attempts and scored one of the tries of the season finishing a sweeping move from halfway that he started with a long cut-out pass.

Pellegrini is an audacious player with flair, vision and deceptive strength and pace. He was born and raised in Sydney to an Australian father and Tongan mother. Pellegrini also has Italian and English heritage

From 2020-2022, he played for Sevenoaks in England’s fifth tier of club rugby before his stint with Coventry in the second division. In 33 appearances (24 wins), he scored 325 points, ending the 2023/24 season as the top points scorer in the Championship.

He made his international debut for Tonga against Fiji in July 2023. Tonga lost 36–20. He also played in two wins against Canada, in one of which he made his first start. In August, he was not named in the squad for the Rugby World Cup but was recalled during the pool stage in place of Otumaka Mausia, who was injured. He scored a try in Tonga’s group loss to eventual champions South Africa. He has played 12 Tests.

Joe Brial (Reds)

Without Fraser McReight, Harry Wilison, Hunter Paisami, and with Tate McDermott on the bench, the Reds beat the Force for a second time this season, 28-24, to jump to the top of the table.

Compelling features of the Reds success in 2025 are their sturdy scrum and the stewardship of first-five Tom Lynagh.

Increasing depth is emerging too, and in just his second start, filling the huge boots of usual skipper Harry Wilson, Joe Brail was busy and abrasive. Brial topped the Reds carry count with ten and added nine tackles in a busy and aggressive performance.

The son of former Wallaby hardman Michael Brial has taken a somewhat different path to professional rugby. After playing for the Australian Schools in their first win against New Zealand in 2019, Brial returned to New Zealand and spent three years with the Crusaders Academy, expressing a desire to train with the most successful Super franchise.

The decision proved to be a fruitful one. He would go on to be selected in the Canterbury U19s squad, before making the New Zealand U20s side in 2022 that won the Oceania Championship on the Gold Coast. New Zealand beat Australia by a record score of 69-12 in that tourney.

Brial played four games for Canterbury in the NPC before heading to Brisbane. He debuted for the Reds off the bench in a 27-26 victory over the Warathas. The 23-year-old who played for Australia A against England A in 2024 is a bright prospect.