Sam BruceApr 20, 2026, 10:05 AM

CloseSam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPN after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia’s digital rugby coverage.

Multiple Authors

Round 10 of Super Rugby Pacific did not disappoint, with four of the five games going right down to the wire — and the Chiefs-Hurricanes thriller delivering our first Super Point game of the season.

Read on as we discuss some of the key talking points from the weekend.

LOMAX HAS THE HEADLINES, BUT THIS IS NOW A COMPLETE FORCE TEAM

The easy thing to say about the Western Force is Zac Lomax’s arrival in Perth has inspired the perennial Super Rugby strugglers to new heights, and a measure of that is true. But after a slow start to the season, the Force were already starting to find some rhythm and in the past three weeks have produced some of the best performances of their entire history.

It’s usually the Crusaders who come back from 19-0 down, and not the other way round. Sure, there may have been a touch of good fortune with Dylan Pietsch’s try – though Johnny McNicholl’s own first-half score was a touch dubious, too – but in surging back to run down the defending champions, the Force showed that their mid-season resurgence wasn’t a flash in the pan. Sneaking into sixth spot for an unlikely finals berth might be beyond them, but it is clear the Force are playing with an attacking intent seldom seen in Perth.

The only disappointing aspect of their past three performances was their inability to get over the line in Lautoka. But you could put a different spin on that and credit their fitness and preparation for handling a tough travel week home from Fiji; so too Ben Donaldson who missed what was a match-winning penalty last week, but then responded with a sharp display against the Crusaders.

Getting star flanker Carlo Tizzano back from injury certainly helped, while the Force have one of the best defensive lineouts in the competition, with skipper Jeremy Williams and Darcy Swain creating chaos for the Crusaders at the set-piece on Saturday night.

Zac Lomax grabbed his first Super Rugby try in the Force’s 31-26 win over the Crusaders Janelle St Pierre/Getty Images

But perhaps the biggest talking point – outside of Lomax anyway – has been the form of scrum-half Henry Roberston, whose slick service, running game and sound boot had already previously caught the eye of outgoing Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.

The Kiwi has a habit of name-dropping multiple players when asked about specific positions at press conferences, and Robertson was one of those to come up regularly. But the shout-out was never taken seriously, at least by the media in attendance.

So while Ryan Lonergan has rightfully been praised for his play at the Brumbies, and departing Reds halfback Louis Werchon has also impressed, Robertson should not be discounted from serious Wallabies calculations. Schmidt saw something early on that many others did not.

Regardless, if Super Rugby is to ward off the doomsayers, it needs the Force to not only be competitive, but also produce performances like they have in the past month.

Lomax has certainly put more awareness around them, and added another attacking threat to their arsenal, but the building blocks were in place before his arrival.

FORGET THE TOP THREE, BRUMBIES COULD BE IN FINALS SCRAMBLE ALTOGETHER

Stephen Larkham must have spent Saturday night staring at the ceiling, pondering how his side could be 4-0 against New Zealand opposition, only to be beaten at home by the Reds, Waratahs and, after the weekend, the Fijian Drua.

Sure, the Brumbies had some luck in their wins over the Blues, Chiefs and Highlanders, but play from behind often enough and eventually a comeback will fall short. And that’s exactly what happened at GIO Stadium on Saturday night, as the ACT fell behind 30-14 just before the hour mark and eventually came up five points short of victory.

While a win wouldn’t have moved them past the Blues and into third just yet, it would have made their bid for a home quarterfinal – and particularly an invaluable top-two finish – that little bit easier, particularly with a tough Super Round clash with the Hurricanes to come this weekend.

Fijian Drua fully deserved their upset win over the Brumbies, who now could face a fight to make the top six Mark Nolan/Getty Images

Given their run home beyond that includes trips to Brisbane and Sydney to face the Reds and Waratahs respectively, plus a visit from the resurgent Force, the Brumbies could yet be in a scramble for the top six full stop.

So while they deserve enormous praise for their record against New Zealand opposition this season, the never-say-die attitude in those games in particular, their inability to win games they were expected to do so is likely to overshadow their season.

Larkham needs to find an answer to their non-Kiwi woes – and fast.

ALL BLACKS BACK-ROWER DELIVERS TIMELY REMINDER

It was always going to be tough for Wallace Sititi to match his 2024 breakout season, a year in which he was later presented the World Rugby award in that very category.

A long-term injury kept him out for much of the 2025 Super Rugby season, and history repeated this year as he played his first game since February on Saturday night, securing the match-winning try against the Hurricanes in Super Point.

Sititi reacted the quickest to Warner Dearns’ charge down of Damian McKenzie’s drop goal; he wanted the ball, won the aerial contest and then beat the cover defence to score under the sticks.

It was the kind of play you expect your stars to make, and Sititi, at full fitness, is absolutely that.

Just how incoming All Blacks coach Dave Rennie brings his back-row trio together remains to be seen, but amid the form of the Hurricanes loose forwards, and Sititi’s Chiefs teammates Luke Jacobson, Simon Parker and Samipeni Finau, the 2024 World Rugby Player Breakthrough Player of the Year had slipped a little from the thinking.

That isn’t the case anymore.

LAIDLAW HAD A RIGHT TO LOSE HIS MIND

On another night, the Hurricanes might well have won their top-of-the-table clash with the Chiefs, as their claims for a penalty on fulltime could have been heard by a different referee.

As it was, Ben O’Keeffe did not reward replacement winger Jone Rova for near-perfect position over the ball, after Damian McKenzie had attempted to launch one final attack from deep inside his own 22.

After being tackled by Billy Proctor, McKenzie released the ball, got back to his feet, only to then be grounded by Rova once more. Another referee could have pinged McKenzie for holding on, but the ball instead spewed out of the ruck and the Chiefs were able to clear and force Super Point.

Laidlaw was livid in the coaches box, and on the evidence provided he had every right to feel his team should have been awarded a penalty for holding on.

The result didn’t dampen the belief that the Canes can win their first title since 2016, they just may well have to go through the Chiefs to do it.