Happy Hump Day fellow GAGRs, time to put the disappointment or contentment behind us from last week and start preparing for this week. I’m in a lucky place, with my Canes able to lose abysmally and still win the minor champs. The big question for me will be the way the coaches manage the players trying to protect some and give much needed game time to others. Still a lot to play for with the teams from 3 to about 8 with many permutations of the wins and losses and bonus points that will decide the final 6. Will your team manage to squeeze in or not. Finals rugby with the knockout can be a funny game the pressure of the knockout can cause some teams to lose games they shouldn’t. Good luck to whoever you support and may the rugby gods be smiling.

Referee Corner

Gus & his natural pose refereeing Kiwis

3 Oct 1999: Referee Andrew Cole gives a penalty to Samoa during the Rugby World Cup match between Sa played at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, England. Samoa won the game 43-9. \ Mandatory Credit: Mike Hewitt /Allsport

Not a lot of controversy over the weekend. A few cards but apart from some BS from the commentators like Mils Muliaina saying a clear high hit with no mitigation should be ignored there wasn’t a lot to question on them. As Brissy posted in his Monday news about the Stan commentators, the only good thing is that they’ve managed to get the same incompetent idiots on both sides of the Tasman. Probably the most controversial was the try by Lomax that certainly looked forward to most observers – except the officials – and they’re the only ones that count. As mentioned in earlier posts the path of the ball is not the defining factor here and the only thing that matters was whether the ball was “forward out of the hands.” or not. For me the call could have gone either way and while I thought it looked a bit forward out of the hands, it certainly wasn’t clear and obvious that it was and so the officials let it go.

Part of the reasoning behind a lot of the calls in Super rugby that seem to be against the laws is that SANZAR have directed the officials to adjudicate in a more tactical manner where unless there is a huge material impact on the game they are to provide a free flowing game over a stop and start game filled with scrums, penalties and TMO interference. The idea behind this is to make the game more enjoyable to watch and so retain and grow the supporter base. The big issue with this is that once the international games come around World Rugby will direct that the games are to be adjudicated more technically and some of the things that we let go in Super rugby will be called back. This can be a problem as supporters are used to the free flowing game – even if not happy with the way some officials approach this – and the international games will be a lot more stop/start and I think you’ll see a bigger TMO influence. This will mean a lot of whinging from Supporters, commentators and even some coaching staff while we all get used to it. Personally I’ll be interested in the approach in the internationals, but I may not appreciate it all the time.

‘So much confidence’: Why the Reds believe a title is within reach

Matt Faessler scores for the Reds

Louis Werchon celebrates Fraser McReight’s try

Josh Flook scores

Reports coming out of Queensland indicate that some there are feeling confident that the Reds can go all the way with the team are pledging to keep winning the pressure moments and challenge for an against-the-odds Super Pacific crown. With the winners of the next week’s three “quarter-finals” plus the highest-ranked losing team to progress to the semi-finals, snatching fourth position from the Crusaders and Brumbies will be critical for the Reds moving forward.

Harry Wilson is backing the Reds to cause some damage in the play-offs. “We’ve obviously been probably quite an interesting team to watch this year,” Wilson said on Monday. “We’ve played some unbelievable footy against some of the Kiwi teams, the Brumbies, probably games we were meant to lose.” adding “So that gives us confidence when we know we’re playing our best, we can beat anybody in our day, and that’s really crucial going to the quarter-finals for maximising our year and getting as far as we can.” Harry followed this with “We know how much in a game of Super Rugby at the moment it can go up and down and we’ve really stepped up in those big moments, and I’ve got so much confidence in this group. If we can do the little things well, if we have a strong set piece, feel good around the breakdown and give our backs a quick ball, we’ll be a tough team to verse (play against).”

While it’s always good to hear a player being positive about his team, I’m not so sure the Reds will get there. Harry is 100% correct in saying that when things have clicked the team has looked really good and demonstrated they can threaten any other team. The problem is those times have been interspersed with some pretty poor play where they would have struggled to beat a high school 1st XV. There is no doubt that their good is very good. The problem is their bad is very bad and there has been too much of that this year at critical times.

‘Story of the season’: Waratahs seemingly gone from finals hopes after Brumbies loss

The Tahs break into Khe Sanh after belting the Brumbies. Getty Images.

‘OK, one more time. That thing over there is called a ‘try line’ and when we put the ball down on it, we get 5 points. Are we clear now!’ Tahs learn together. (Mark Evans/AAP PHOTOS)

Jake Gordon snipes

The NSW Waratahs are calling for patience after enduring another “story of the season” loss that has almost certainly cruelled their Super Rugby Pacific finals hopes for a fourth straight year. Coach Dan McKellar rued his side failing to convert any of seven first-half try-scoring opportunities in the 21-14 defeat to the Brumbies in Sydney on Friday night. Now needing a mathematical miracle to scrape into the finals, the Waratahs are resigned to missing the play-offs. “We want to be playing at the back end of the season and we’re not, so it’s a pretty easy answer – we’re disappointed,” McKellar said adding “But in terms of progress over the last two seasons, I think we’ve made huge progress. A lot of that the public can’t see, so it’s within the four walls of the building.” McKellar explained adding “You’ve got to understand when we took over this group, it was a group that had come last and were really lacking in a lot of key areas to perform consistently at this level. So we’ve made a lot of change and we’re on the right track, but we’re far from where we need to be.”

A lack of finishing off an attack has been the Tahs Achilles heel all season, especially the ability to convert excursions into the Red Zone into points. “We’ve spoken about the A zone,” McKellar said. “Last week we sat at halftime and we had converted six from seven and we’re up by 30 points. However this could not be replicated on Saturday night when they were no score from seven entries and, at one stage, none from 10 entries. Those stats are never going to win a game.

Now I don’t know if it was a planned game tactic, or if the forwards just took over but for me watching the game it seemed like Plan A was to hit it up in close and when that didn’t work Plan B was to Hit it up in close but just do it harder. There seemed to be little in the way of deception and at times it looked as though you could throw a blanket over the whole team apart from one or two waiting out on the wing but never receiving the ball.

I still maintain that the difference between the top teams and the bottom teams in this competition has more to do with team culture and Franchise and team leadership than it has to do with the individual players. I think if the Waratahs really want to see some progress on the field they need to address those areas first.

News from across the ditch dutch

Crusaders shut Will Jordan down for season, All Blacks opener also in doubt

In news that will gladden the heart of any opposition to the Crusaders or All Blacks it appears Will Jordan has re-aggravated his calf injury. Jordan returned to the field for the Crusaders last weekend after six weeks on the sidelines rehabbing the calf issue, but left the contest after 71 minutes on the field. The damage was confirmed with a post to the Crusaders’ social media channels that was captioned “2026 has come to an end for Will Jordan. His anticipated return to play is 4-6 weeks, ruling him out for the remainder of Super Rugby Pacific.”

The Super Rugby Pacific final is four weeks away, suggesting a return wouldn’t be entirely out of the question, but considering it’s a re-injury after a considerable period of rest and rehab, he is unlikely to appear for the remainder of the Super season. The injury also puts Jordan’s inclusion in the opening All Blacks Test of the year in doubt, with the Nations Championship beginning exactly six weeks from the date Jordan suffered the re-aggravation. On consecutive weeks NZ play France in Christchurch, Italy in Wellington and Ireland in Auckland. I’m sure Dave Rennie will want to see Jordan back for at least two of these games if not all three and I know I do.

Scott Hansen to succeed Rob Penney as Crusaders head coach in 2027

After missing out on a place in Dave Rennie’s All Black coaching team it is reported that Scott Hansen has been selected to replace Rob Penney who signed a one year extension to his coaching position. The former Crusaders assistant could return to the franchise he helped guide to multiple Super Rugby Pacific titles, after spending two years as one of the lead assistant coaches for the All Blacks.

Hansen without a role since leaving the All Blacks earlier in 2026, was reportedly in a battle with current Crusaders and former All Blacks assistant Brad Mooar for the coveted role. Mooar returned to the Canterbury-based franchise last season and has previous head coaching experience with Scarlets in Wales. He was also part of Ian Foster’s coaching group before being replaced by Joe Schmidt midway through the last RWC cycle. The report suggests Penney will hand over the role to Hansen at the conclusion of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season, and that internally, the decision has been made for over a week.

The Crusaders also reportedly approached former Crusaders assistant coach and current Ireland attack coach Andrew Goodman to return to New Zealand, but the 43-year-old opted to remain under Andy Farrell at Ireland.

This is an interesting choice given that other reports suggest Hansen was a huge part of the problem in the last coaching team and that it was Robertson’s continual faith in him that led to his downfall. Personally the only real issue I have with Hansen was his incredibly poor media sessions where he never said anything of substance and just reiterated the same platitudes time after time. I hope someone in NZ has sat down with him and talked him through the issues and he has learnt from them. Next year will certainly be interesting and if the Crusaders struggle like they did early on this year he could get a lot of complaints.