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‘Not rewarding them’: Wallabies great questions Super Rugby playoff set-up

The team captains pose for a photograph with the trophy at the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific Season Launch on February 14, 2024 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)

Wallabies legend Tim Horan has questioned whether Super Rugby Pacific should cut down from an eight to six-team playoff race in an effort to reward the sides that finish first and second.

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The Blues and Hurricanes are in the box seat to finish the regular season in one of the coveted top-two places, while the Brumbies and Chiefs have also secured a home quarter-final.

Moving down the ladder, the fifth-place Queensland Reds are finals-bound, while the Melbourne Rebels, Highlanders and Fijian Drua are on the brink of booking their ticket to the next stage.

In a 12-team competition, those who finish the regular season in the top eight qualify for the playoffs. But, with two games to go before that stage, Tim Horan has suggested an alternative.

While the 4-8 Western Force and 2-10 Crusaders are among the teams still have a mathematical chance of qualifying, the two-time World Cup winner believes the top sides aren’t rewarded enough.

“Well, you’d think the Western Force is the best chance, wouldn’t you think, after their performance against the Waratahs in Perth last weekend,” Horan said on Stan Sports’ Rugby Heaven.

“Of course, they play the Reds this weekend on Saturday night.

“I think the Force, they’ve shown – Benny Donaldson, one of his better games of the year as well with Kurtley Beale, what he’s brought to this team.

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“But then the conversation goes back to should you have a top eight? I actually think it should be top six. Top six, the quarter-final is three to six and the top two get the weekend off, the first weekend off.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins
3
Draws
0
Wins
2
Average Points scored
25
21
First try wins
100%
Home team wins
40%

“At the moment, you’re not rewarding say the Blues and the Hurricanes. If they finish one and two, you’re not rewarding them for finishing in the top two.”

As Horan mentioned, the Western Force are the more likely of the bottom-four teams to rise up the ladder and into a playoff spot on the back of a late regular season resurgence.

The men from out west have won their last two matches, which have both been against other sides vying for eighth place, and they’ve only lost two of their last five dating back to April 20.

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Defending champions the Crusaders are four points behind the Force on the ladder and appear to be an outside chance of making the next stage.

Then there’s Moana Pasifika and the Waratahs. Former Wallaby Cameron Shepherd echoed Horan’s comments by saying those two teams “can’t really get back in” the top eight.

“I kind of agree in a 12-team competition that maybe six is the right thing,” Shepherd added.

“You look at it now, the Waratahs and Moana are probably the two teams that have definitely gone. The fall down from sixth to 10th are the moving positions.

“The Tahs and Moana can’t really get back in there but they can certainly disrupt what’s going to happen.

“I think bonus points are just going to become so vital in these next couple of weeks, and for the poor Force, could that Bayley Kuenzle try that was disallowed at the end of the game last Saturday night and losing that one (bonus) point come back to hurt them?

“Fingers crossed not but it’s going to be an exciting couple of weeks.”

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H
Hellhound 38 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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