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Queensland Reds

Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Season Week 9 of 16: ACT Brumbies has unfinished business  now 3rd on the ladder following their 26-39 win over the Queensland Reds

by Sports Benches

Tonight’s Reds v Brumbies match was full of physically-contested slides on the field like we see in ten-pin bowling with handling errors through a series of hits and misses being a key Achilles heel towards one team’s loss here and there.

The winner turned out to be the Brumbies by 26-39 who backflipped the Reds good start with a series of brilliant executions while maintaining a lot of ball that is good with their retention – something the Reds couldn’t hang on with their long game.

Now at this time of the year, the Brumbies are back in business this time sitting Top 3 behind the Chiefs (2nd) and Crusaders (1st). Speaking of this time, they want to be the ones to be the next Australian team to play in a Super Rugby final proper again after being outside Grand Finals best for a number of recent years now since 2022.

Although the regular season isn’t done yet going into Week 10 out of 16, here’s more you need to know also from elsewhere:

  • The resurgent Crusaders still currently standing up tall over everyone having successfully hold off the Hurricanes to begin Week 9’s share of games earlier last night in Christchurch by 24-31.
  • NSW Waratahs rejoice as the last earned Aussie Super Rugby champ at least in its proper comp that goes back to 2014 following their home win this time against a NZ team in the Chiefs by 21-14 also last night at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park.
  • Moana Pasifika’s bid for Top 6 will have to wait another time now after they were held back by the Auckland Blues earlier in the arvo by 36-17.
  • And Highlanders back on track from last Saturday’s loss v the Flying (Western) Force in Perth to a big win over the wooden spooners Fijian Drua prior to this game in Dunedin, 43-20.

Top players Pick

First up, Allan Alaalatoa – he’s a very important part of their front row props glue at tighthead 3 alongside former Red James Slipper on the other loosehead 1. 

They both make up crunch time, every time and by outmuscling Reds, Brumbies exactly know what to do to keep on churning with their end goals at full speed.

Also a great time too to have Rob Valetini back on the blindside 6 from injury and Brumbies will continue to unfinished business & maybe in Grand Final this year.

And if one stood out for the Reds alone, it’s gotta be Hunter Paisami on the inside 12 where he too fought hard with a pack of punches off his shoulders thanks to his team’s good start. Unfortunately, they’ve messed things up tactically all over the place with lost balls/penalty caught by the ref, and Reds better be careful next time. 

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Rugby

Thoughts on Rugby Australia’s TV rights contract extension that is now finalised with Nine and Stan between 2026-2030

by Sports Benches

The decision has already been made yesterday as Nine and Stan now confirmed to stay on with Rugby Australia for another five years when it comes to the next TV rights contact that is set to start from next season (2026) to at least the end of 2030.

Here’s what we know so far:

  • All Super Rugby games will be aired on Stan Sport.
  • All Wallabies and Wallaroos games including the Bledisloe Cup, Rugby Championship (Stan only everywhere else that isn’t Wallabies) and the proposed Nations Cup/Spring Tour to be on both Nine and Stan.
  • All Club Rugby games both NSW Shute Shield and QLD Hospital Cup will also stay on Stan for at least the next two seasons with one main weekly Saturday afternoon game back on free-to-air also on Nine through 9Gem including Finals.
  • All other content they’ve got will also stay on only through Stan from Super W to U-16 and U-19 National Championships as well as Six Nations, Currie Cup, NZ’s National Provincial Championship and many more including the full All Blacks v Springboks 2026 (to SA) & 2030 (back in NZ) tours.
  • The final cost would be around $215 million ($43 million per season) with up to $30 million add-ons depending on the Wallabies and Australian Super Rugby teams’ successes over time.

So what’s missing? No Saturday night free-to-air weekly Super Rugby games. 

That contract obligation they’ve got at the moment has now been removed starting next season onwards to aid with RA’s retention of keeping their top players away from lucrative overseas playing and money opportunities as Nine chose to give them more cash instead by swapping Super Rugby with all Wallabies and Club Rugby games returning on free-to-air TV.

Nothing much to do with increased ratings or exposure really, although there’s still a possibility that Nine could still air some Super Rugby games after all albeit at different times during the season.

It could only be key matches or even a mix of both Friday nights plus some Sunday afternoon regular-season games on what they call it flexible scheduling including one weekly finals on Saturdays, I don’t know.

But I hope RA and Nine with their paid streaming subsidiary Stan will find a way soon enough to keep Super Rugby on free-to-air at least in some way, so we don’t have to feel disappointed & not like it was in the past when there were no live Super Rugby games at all other than replays & highlights until 2021 all thanks to Nine.

Regardless of that, sure we are moving onto the right direction for the betterment of Rugby Australia, when Super Rugby is going well at the moment at the expense of our four Aussie teams along with the front row potential of winning it all in the green & gold Wallabies when we take on the British and Irish Lions as well as another Trans-Tasman contest later this year.

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Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Week 7 of 16: Queensland Reds v Western Force: Reds come out strong as the survivors over Force once again through the wet Suncorp Stadium pitch

by Sports Benches

It was a game of competitive two-halves rugby that was held under wet weather between the Queensland Reds and Western Force tonight at Suncorp Stadium as we are nearly halfway (Week 7 of 16). Reds got themselves going before some ill-discipline and poor line-outs have marked a huge setback while Force played the Reds with Fire of the gold & black jersey so they can make every chance count that can keep their Top 6 Finals hopes alive. 

There can be only be one winner having levelled 21-21 at half-time and in the end, it’s the mighty Queensland Reds who took home yet another win like it was a few weeks ago in their last own match on the Force’s own ground at HBF Park, 28-24.

From elsewhere 

Here’s what you need to know prior to this game tonight:

  • Gotta feel for the Waratahs especially Max Jorgensen who picked up an unfortunate injury during their big loss to the Hurricanes early last night to begin Week 7’s matches at Wellington’s Sky Stadium by 57-12.
  • ACT Brumbies broke the Highlanders’ hearts that late to sign off their strong home ground front at GIO Stadium also last night in Canberra, 34-27.
  • Crusaders got battered & bruised this weekend in Christchurch thanks to Moana Pasifika who are back in business with a long way to go (from last spot to now 9th), 29-45.
  • And there’s only four games out of five since the Chiefs and Blues (both last year’s grand finalists) are having the week-long off the field.

Top 3 players

Filipo Daugunu belongs to the heart of Ballymore having made up some magic attacking metres while he was superb at locking up in defense – no wonder his goalkeeping & striking background from soccer helped him struck a good balance right at the middle of the Reds’ outside 13.

So does fellow Red Tate McDermott as the reverse 9 where his supercharged influences created shockwaves at the Force’s own doormat, especially in the last 10 mins thanks to his late TRY & that enough to get over the line in the end.

All in all, yes, there were some mistakes like poor line-outs and ill-discipline but hey, Queenslanders never back down!

And you can’t go past the Western Force’s own running rugby with Darcy Swain’s top-class input all on the second row 5 from line-out intercepts to building pressure both attack and defence which proved to be a huge difference so far. 

Yes, unlucky there from Force who had the better ball than the Reds – they just struggled have the last say in the end.

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Rugby

Super Rugby 2025 Week 5 of 16: Queensland Reds retain the Bob Templeton Cup following their comprehensive win over the NSW Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium by 35-15

by Sports Benches

The oldest rivalry between New South Wales and Queensland is back for another year and the Reds were just too good in front of their home fans with their retention of the Bob Templeton Cup that marked the Tahs first loss of 2025 after they began the new year with three straight wins on their home front by Dan McKellar as the final score at Suncorp Stadium was 35-15.

Yes, no doubt Waratahs got onboard so early before they built a solid defensive structure to frustrate the Reds along the way. However, their inability to convert into tries whilst leading saw the Reds pick up most of the pie instead and this is where they were blown away – not even a late TRY would help to make lost time when the game was already over & done.

Elsewhere, Crusaders kept on winning once again where they were also too good this time against the Western Force and the same goes with the ACT Brumbies as of late from last night v Fijian Drua. Plus, Hurricanes rebound over the Highlanders following their surprise loss last weekend v Moana Pasifika (who are taking the bye this week) and earlier tonight, reigning champs Blues fell just short by just a single point (32-31) to the No.1 side right now in none other than the Chiefs.

And shoutout to Eastern Suburbs by the way who just got away with the Australian Club Championship pre-season win over Queensland’s Hospital Cup reigning championship team Wests Brothers from Toowong at Crosby Park, Albion (also in Brisbane, QLD) – how good!! Especially when you follow Shute Shield in NSW where they had a blast last year with that Grand Final win over the Northern Suburbs following a long 55-year wait & now they just added another trophy in such short time.

Player Spotlight

Tom Lynagh lightens up the Queensland Reds fast-paced counter-attack with fireworks thanks to his own creative brilliance + his powerful kicking game and spotless conversion kicks all around much like his legendary dad Michael in the No.10 shirt. He’s been a strong performer on his own every week and sure the rewards will continue to go his way & who knows if he will right up there against the Lions for the Wallabies soon? Sure his dad knows all about that team’s group of intel so well based on his past punditry work in the UK.

Not only that, you can’t get past the Reds Great Wall of loose forwards such as No.8 Harry Wilson and re-committed home grown signing Fraser McReight on the openside 7. Yes, they may have battered a huge bruising over the course of 80 mins that is part & parcel of rugby where Fraser had to be taken off right away for his left shoulder after he scored a TRY; but still, their defense was as good as their attack – both at the breakdown & on open play.

And Triston Reilly did the best he can who was a useful utility asset on the Waratahs right wing 14 – such as that opening TRY not long after kick-off on his own short side while he offers that extra push with the maul at line-out time. Glad he took that opportunity especially with competition for outside backs getting robust as it goes, it’s a shame they failed grasp into conversions for the most part.

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Rugby

Super Rugby 2025 Week 4 of 16: Crusaders making a statement on home turf following a comprehensive win over the Queensland Reds in Christchurch by 43-19

by Sports Benches

Looks like it’s been another statement match that puts them 4th now from the mighty Crusaders v Queensland Reds especially at home off the back of their fast start along with a sweet full-time finish.

Great to see former Wallaby & Red James O’Connor also with some game valuable time off the bench once again – could’ve been a bit more special if it wasn’t for that David Havili lost ball by the other Reds 10 Harry MP.

They sure do need JOC the most whose off field influence has been the beneficiary so far of Rob Penney’s 2nd year in charge on the right track + JOC’s younger in-house No.10 of Taha Kemara who wasn’t bad other than a few hit and miss two-point kicks but he will get better with time just like club legend Richie Mo’unga.

They’ve got another home game next Saturday also during the afternoon v the Western Force where Force are so good on paper & no doubt Crusaders would want to make good use of their ball retention that can change everything- just have a look of last night’s game by the Waratahs also against Force.

And on Reds, not their day today having gave Crusaders a hard time as if it was an arm wrestling match, but were way out of place when it comes to the scoreboard with their first loss of the new season.

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Rugby

Super Rugby Week 3 of 16 in 2025: Queensland Reds hold back Western Force at the last minute by 24-28

by Sports Benches

After back-to-back early wins on what has been a flying start to the new season from the Western Force, Queensland Reds has just hit back at the last minute that broke their hearts on home turf by a mere four point win (24-28) at Perth’s HBF Park.

Yes, there were lots of rampaging and expansive rugby from the home side that puts them on the board right from the word go. Although the Reds even though they’ve lost the plot a couple of times alongside their inability to build pressure and eventually knock down the Force’s scrambled defense, they know how to rebound thanks to their counter-attack under coach Les Kiss whenever they’re right on the money via break or penalties. 

Hard to tell when both sides were battling so hard right through full-time that makes this contest so great but there can only be one winner and it turns out to be the Reds as said with their scrambled stronghold defense and counter-attacking display every time things do come their way.

Top 3 Players 

Seru Uru is like Ballymore’s Great Wall of back rowers that broke the Western Force’s hearts on the blindside 6 Reds jersey thanks to his solid defence that mixes and matches along with his attacking muscle. It goes to show Les Kiss trusts him well all game long and so does Joe Schmidt who gave him a chance 1-2 times at the back end of last year with the green and gold at International level.

Josh Flook, meanwhile, has benefitted Les Kiss’s style of play on the counter-attack on the outside 13 with back-to-back tries while he can keep a great eye when being tested defensively of the Force’s running and expansive way of playing rugby. Hope he’s okay as not the same without him when the Reds blew their chances at times but at least his good work gave them a fighting chance though with the ugly win – special mention to the Filipo Daugunu also who scored the winner on the wide 11 left.

And former Red Mac Grealy does mean business at the top level on what’s lost every time QLD lost the ball and he’s there and everywhere to pick it up like his ability to kick out from the back at 15 as well pushing the Force’s passage of play further afield. The team’s good start after two wins as of Week 3 has just came to an unlucky end when they lacked discipline while being a touch isolated but interesting to see if they can carry on with their running rugby v the Waratahs next Saturday & the NZ teams after that.

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Tennis x Sports Crossover at the 2025 Australian Open: Super Rugby, All Blacks & Wallabies preview along with Netball in New Zealand and Jack Doohan under pressure for only the first six races in Formula 1 at Alpine-Renault

by Sports Benches

And last but not least, how about we give a shoutout to two Wallabies stars Harry Wilson (Queensland Reds) and Max Jorgensen (NSW Waratahs), who were both in attendance at Melbourne Park this weekend to cheer on Alex De Minaur.

Yet, the Demon did win after all to play in the 4th round for the 4th straight year of his AO men’s singles career.

It was also nice seeing Harry and Max lend over that Wallabies green and gold jersey to Alex and look at him go! – How good! 

Rugby Union

We first have a jam-pack year of Rugby ahead of us with the 11-team Super Rugby competition set to start in a month’s time before the British and Irish Lions arrive at our own backyard during winter. Plus, there’s Club Rugby at the same, the Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup in August-September, and we finish off the year in Europe v the North’s best sides on earth.

First of all, it’s been a bitter blow not seeing Melbourne field a Rugby team anymore in the Rebels when they are a big sporting city due to financial problems. But with lots of people playing AFL (Aussie Rules) and even NRL (Rugby League), it seems there’s no room for Rugby to succeed in that place unfortunately.

Now we are down to four teams with the Western Force still around & as we all know the ACT Brumbies would love to finally play in a Grand Final. However, we would need the Tahs, Reds or even Force to be playing in the semis either way in order for the Wallabies to succeed & that includes the Brumbies. It’s never been a better time to try taking that advantage now, especially with Joseph Suaalii onboard from the Sydney Roosters (NRL) to the Waratahs. 

Other than that, the NZ teams will still be dominating for the most part along with a new-look Crusaders, even though the All Blacks had their bad times last season when it comes to the Springboks and France.

Netball

If Rugby isn’t big enough for NZ, why not Netball when they also have a huge year ahead? 

The Silver Ferns will be stopping by in Sydney soon to spend nine days there as part of their training camp including a Practice Match v the NSW Swifts featuring the Ferns former star shooter (for now) Grace Nweke on Sunday, February 2.

They will also have a slightly different ANZ Premiership season amongst half of the six teams having brand new coaches (Mainland Tactix, Southern Steel and Northern Stars) between May-July including Finals with a two-round home-and-away format across 10-12 weeks rather than playing three times last year.

Yes, the Ferns haven’t organised any matches lined-up yet for the second half season but we are still expected to see the Taini Jamison Trophy series back regardless of opponent. Although England have won it last year but the good news is that they will be able to defend the Constellation Cup v the Aussie Diamonds following their 3-1 series win back in late October.

And shoutout to former Silver Fern and current GWS Giants (Western Sydney) player Gina Crampton who plays at Wing Attack and was also in attendance from the stands for Alex De Minaur’s game yesterday – sure she still has plenty to offer at age 33, especially playing against the best in Super Netball.

Formula 1

What else? Rugby & Netball isn’t the only sport who mix and matches well with Tennis.

I also wish Alpine-Renault’s Jack Doohan from Formula 1 was there to see Alex also because they do look like each other with both of them having a smiley face personality. Surely, Jack can get some tips on defying those odds from Alex when there’s a bunch of reverse drivers waiting in his wings under pressure including Franco Colapinto. Alex did beat another Argentine actually yesterday too in Francisco Cerundolo; hopefully, this will cheer Jack up in a bid to keep his seat over the first six odd races of the season.

Although I can understand Jack is more aligned with Ayrna Sabalenka because she visited his team’s garage in his unexpected F1 debut last month at Abu Dhabi & Jack came back in return for Ayrna when she played a match a few weeks ago at the Brisbane International.

Post-Notes

Can’t believe there’s a whole lot of other athletes watching for fun there rather than looking to go toe-to-toe with the pro Tennis players & see who’s better? 

Time will tell.

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Thoughts on the 11-team 2025 Super Rugby Season structure with 16 rounds, two byes, no Super Round for now & one Quarter-Final lifeline out of six-team Finals 

by Sports Benches

The 11-team 2025 Super Rugby Season structure including its Finals system has just made its first steps today, although the full 16-round fixtures draw will be released later in the next coming days.

Here’s what we know so far

  • Still an uneven fixture list but the annual rugby calendar during the first-half year is already tight anyway. At it stands, one will play twice v four teams and once v six other teams, with seven home and away games plus two week-long byes.
  • A bit more Sunday afternoon games where we got three on offer throughout the 2025 season with the option of expanding more Sundays when it comes to future seasons.
  • Season to start a bit earlier like mid-February with an extra round rather than the 3rd week of February like it was over the last few years.
  • No Super Round where all teams get to play at the one venue during the three-day weekend – at least for now, especially when Melbourne no longer has a Professional Rugby team in the Rebels. Although they could be back in 2026 as part of the Bledisloe Cup ANZAC Day weekend via A Festival of Rugby that is expected to take place at Optus Stadium in Perth.
  • Finals to look a bit different for three weeks in June with six rather than eight while the bottom five can no longer take further part once the regular season is over. Three Quarter-Final winners to go to the semi-finals before one each winning semi-finalist will go on to battle in the Grand Final, with the 3rd winning Quarter-Finalist being the lucky loser as the highest ranked losing team – so a bit like what we saw with the NSW Shute Shield (Club Rugby) during the 2023 season. Yes, some fans still don’t like it and I do personally like to see just a simple four-team Finals format (just two semi-finals and Grand Final) but this is where it’s going in the way we see in other Footy codes like AFL and NRL.

All in all, good to see some changes that will spice up the competition from a format perspective. We’ll see what happens, especially going into 2026. As much as I liked Super Rugby being a Trans-Tasman and the Pasifika competition over these last few years when South Africa moved over to Europe, we’d like to see the Jaguares come back from Argentina to make up 12 teams like it was before (2022-2024) but be logistically based in Melbourne for the most part with Finals on home turf.

With the idea of having more Super Rugby on Sundays, why not begin the day on the couch when the Jaguares sometimes play at home (if they do really want to play some of their home games truly in Argentina) before finishing off the afternoon either side of the Tasman? This would also be the perfect springboard when it comes to future expansion like North America & Hawaii at some point where we could have more Sunday games here/Saturday games there, but both USA and Canada are a long way off from where we are at least in the Top 10 competitively right now.

Although I’d also like to see Andrew Forrest’s Western Force side to team up with Japan by making one super revival team of the Sunwolves together featuring max involving the best of our players and also these Japanese Internationals from the Top League, with most games in Perth and some in Japan. That would be a great replacement to cover up the lost South African quality talent & income there. 

If the Western Force do wish to continue playing Rugby, it would be through the idea of a new third-tier National Club Competition or a series of exhibition matches like the Cheetahs do from Bloemfontein in South Africa while being a feeder club to the Sunwolves, as well as junior level in the Super Rugby U16 & U19 competitions – also run similarly to the one Rugby Victoria is set to operate now the Rebels are gone with some Melbourne games still a possibility by the ACT Brumbies next season.

But I guess we will wait and see between now and at least the home 2027 Rugby World Cup depending on the Wallabies performance. If not, I could see Twiggy going elsewhere to another comp – doesn’t mean the Force is going to be dead since he’s the owner. In the meantime, all we could hope for the best of Australian Rugby right now is to have at least two decent teams battling up front alongside the dominant NZers next season – even though it’s going to be a bit more difficult from here. 

That way, we could finally see our usual Brumbies or any other Australian team like the Reds or Waratahs to finally play in a Grand Final in a long time when simply advancing into a Quarter-Final & then getting eliminated right on the spot isn’t good enough.

Not even getting kicked outside the last 4 isn’t a good excuse either, especially for the Brumbies when we haven’t been winning for 10 years now since the Tahs last won it v Crusaders & over 20 if you count the Bledisloe Cup & even Rugby Championship for the Wallabies.

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Rugby

2024 Super Rugby Review: New Zealand teams continues to dominate except the Crusaders at least for this year while ACT Brumbies still only the best here in Australia

by Sports Benches

While we are transitioning into International mode and also at Club Rugby too going into the 2nd half of 2024 next month, let’s look back at the 2024 Super Rugby Season following the Blues A+ Grand Final performance that sealed their long-awaited drought for their 4th championship trophy for the first time since 2003 over the Chiefs at Eden Park last night.

It began with the Crusaders largely not being the same team anymore that won them multiple championships despite their late season resurgence where they were one place short of the Top 8 while the Melbourne Rebels had a rare spectacular run on the field in 8th before their poor financial health regardless of this however unfortunately ended the team’s 14 year existence. Plus, NSW Waratahs were at an all-time low once again other than the two wins v Crusaders off the back of numerous injuries in the treatment room, particularly with their front rowers. Queensland Reds also had some fresh breath of under new coach Les Kiss including the Highlanders with their big rebuilding phase over in Otago but then they were both nowhere near past the Quarter-Finals alongside the Fijian Drua off the back of another excellent home season in 7th. Time will tell if the Drua will continue to progress & go Top 6 under a new coach while looking to improve their away form next season.

The same goes with the ACT Brumbies who continues to fall short in the semis yet again as they still continue to hold the title as Australia’s No.1 Super Rugby team, although we did witness a surprise semi elimination in the top-ranked Hurricanes by the Chiefs before the Waikato-based franchise weren’t simply up to the task against the championship-winning Blues last night. Nothing much also happened to Moana Pasifika and the Western Force when they had some wins off the back of a huge off-season drive but both are still underwhelming for the majority. It remains to be seen if the Force will benefit from the Rebels demise in an 11-team competition (short term) next year that would hopefully improve Australia’s record in Super Rugby as well as Wallabies at International level, so they can look to win games again. If not, while we understand of having a national footprint when the world has changed nowadays – three teams may finally be the way to go again with Rugby Australia helping the Force out elsewhere like reviving Global Rapid Rugby & have them play against teams in South East Asia.

And finally, congratulations to the Blues on their fourth championship when they first won this competition back-to-back while Super Rugby was born under Super 12 back in 1996 followed by a 3rd one in 2003 before they finally broken the 21-year hoodoo last night on top of the short-lived Trans-Tasman crown over the Highlanders during COVID back in 2021. They too have been unstoppable who can unseat any team including the top regular-season ranked Hurricanes while setting the standard all along including the Grand Final v Chiefs, even without Beauden Barrett at least in the short term until next year due to him playing in Japan. But it’s all about having an excellent group of players who is still around day in, day out alongside an experienced head coach of Vern Cotter after lifting his first major silverware off the back of long stints in France & Scotland.

So there you go for 2024 as Season 2025 would see 16 regular season matches and two weekly byes alongside a Top 6 Finals system like it was back in 2011-15 with the Top 2 going straight into the semis with 3rd-6th placed teams to play in the first week Quarter-Finals, then the other winning two will face the best two in the Final Four before the best of the best two teams will battle it out in the hope of lifting that championship next time around in 12 months’ time. After that, depending on the four Australian teams performance, Super Rugby would ideally like to say 12 teams but would otherwise have to go with 10.

The South African teams are well and truly happy in Europe following their split back in late 2020 while Japan wants to stay on its own with the Top League, a Jaguares reunion from Argentina may still pose financial and logistical issues & having Canada and USA onboard including a Hawaii-based team is still far off competitively right now for at least the next 10 years.

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Rugby

Queensland Reds 2024 season stops in the last eight for yet another year after 2nd half turnaround not enough to flip their poor start at the hands of the Chiefs in Waikato

by Sports Benches

The first of the 2024 Super Rugby finals has just been getting started where 4th placed Chiefs host 5th placed Queensland Reds at Waikato Stadium. First half saw a massive show from the Chiefs in front of their home supporters that puts them in a healthy position going into half-time, 31-0. Yes, the 2nd half was won by the Reds alone off the back of some tries when a few new faces from the Chiefs bench might not have exactly shined a light as the starters. However, Reds were still nowhere near the Chiefs all along where they continued to pick up more errors whereas the Chiefs were able to extend their lead whenever and wherever possible that ensured the Waikato supporters another year in the semi-finals going into next weekend, 43-21.

The winner for Quarter-Final 2 early tomorrow afternoon at Sky Stadium in Wellington would see the 1st-placed Hurricanes or 8th-placed Melbourne Rebels (soon to be shut down not based on regular season form this season unfortunately due to financial reasons) take on the Chiefs going for the 1st semi game which will now be on next Saturday afternoon. Plus, the 2nd Saturday night semi would be finalised off the last two Quarter-Final games across the entirety of tomorrow night in both Auckland & Canberra time respectively with Blues (2nd) v Fijian Drua (7th) and ACT Brumbies (3rd) v Highlanders (6th).

Samipeni Finau kept the Chiefs in check in all areas both in defense and attack on the blindside No.6 tonight. He never stopped running and smashing into places that gave the best run for his money thanks to his team’s brilliant backline, so they can get the job done for him with as seen with their outstanding 1st 40. Yes, the Reds might have some moments of their later in the 2nd half off the back of the Chiefs subs but his towering and rock solid physicality would be key in next week’s semi v Hurricanes or Rebels. Samisoni Taukeiaho was also another Chiefs player who did so well as the starting hooker (No.2). He’s got plenty of power to unpack such as his throwing-in accuracy and most importantly, his physical strength to plow his way into opposition defenders with two first-half tries. He earned his early rest after 50 odd mins of play with his reserve Bradley Slater also doing so well with just the one 2nd half TRY for himself that would hopefully see them win semis once again.

And despite the Reds leaving the Playoffs early yet again, gotta say competition isn’t bad when it comes to reserve No.10 Lawson Creighton following his impressive impact for Tom Lynagh later in the 2nd half. He got straight into it by changing up the attack for the Reds even though catching up to the Chiefs is very much impossible with two successful conversion kicks sandwiched in between one late TRY for himself. If he did all of that magic from the start, it would’ve been a different story when Les Kiss gave Ballymore a new lease of life off Brad Thorn – just not the Reds night sadly to finish off their 2024 season.

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