8th: Blues
The Blues’ simple video is set to a good song in Kanye West’s Runaway and the shots of Auckland are strong, making you appreciate the city.
However, it only shows half the fixtures, which is a problem. I guess most Blues fans will be looking at when they can attend home games, but a draw video isn’t complete without seeing the entire fixture list.
The basics are there, but the execution needs to be better.
7th: Highlanders
The Highlanders came late to the draw announcement video party and they at least showed up with all their fixtures.
The aesthetics of this one are great with the counter rising for distance travelled and teams being pinned on a map of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, while the commentary crackling over the top of each club’s logo was a nice touch.
There felt like something was missing from this overall, though, as if there was going to be a big reveal and you’d see the person pinning the clubs on the map.
It was fun and original, but a lack of oomph stopped this from being a top-five video.
6th: Hurricanes
The reigning Super Rugby champions did not take the win this time, but made a good attempt by hopping on the Brand New Day trend.
If you haven’t seen the latest Spider-Man film (this isn’t a spoiler), it ends with aesthetic shots of New York City under Steve Lacy’s Oh Yeah? But the Hurricanes social media team replaced the American city with shots of Wellington (that’s a huge upgrade).
It is simple and somewhat similar to the Blues, but it does show the entire schedule and clips of the team with the trophy at the start, which helps to lift it in the rankings.
5th: Western Force
The Western Force put their players to good use in their draw announcement video as Brandon Paenga-Amosa acts as Dylan Pietsch’s therapist.
The video then warps inside Pietch’s mind as it lists off their games in a comic book-style, which is a cool aesthetic; the only issue is that it gives the vibe it was AI-generated.
This might be the favourite announcement of Qantas, Air New Zealand and Fiji Airways as their logos are displayed prominently throughout.
4th: Brumbies
This is the best use of a trend out of all the announcement videos as the Brumbies master the “Netflix doc” with seven players and coach Stephen Larkham putting in strong acting performances.
The shots work well, the scripting is good and the drama is there to hype up fans for a new season with a sprinkling of comedy as well.
Splicing in shots from games last year adds to the video overall, but what brings it down is that it only shows the home games. We need to see the away games as well for a video to crack the top three.
And not to be that guy, but they do spell Corroboree Group Oval Manuka wrong at one point and I can’t overlook that.
3rd: Crusaders
A unique take here by the Crusaders showing nostalgic clips to promote some of their games and others that could be considered a tenuous link.
A horse eating a carrot and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon throwing his support behind the Waratahs were good ways to promote games against the Brumbies and Waratahs, while I’m sure Highlanders fans would’ve enjoyed the replay of Mitch Hunt’s drop goal.
This is a great video overall, but I felt a compilation of big State of Origin hits wasn’t the best way to preview their Blues fixtures.
2nd: Waratahs
A fun and imaginative way to announce all their games. The Waratahs decided to strap their players into a jet boat and have them scoot around the Sydney Harbour with the games being shouted out as they were splashed.
They receive major points here for originality and putting their stars in an unnecessary situation for our entertainment.
Great pictures, great views of the city and they announce all their matches, making it the second-best announcement video of the year.
1st: Reds
The Reds brought the heat with this announcement video, with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Massimo De Lutiis eating progressively hotter chicken wings.
The concept of eating hot wings isn’t the most original concept in the world, but the reaction of both players as they list off every game makes the video worth sticking around for.
Salakaia-Loto does not need to go for a sauna as the amount of sweat he produced probably brought him down a weight class.
An excellent video that showed all the games for the Reds this season and one that can be enjoyed by all fans.
Super Rugby draw
Round 1
Crusaders v Reds
Brumbies v Waratahs
Fijian Drua v Highlanders
Blues v Hurricanes
Force v Chiefs
Round 2
Crusaders v Hurricanes
Force v Brumbies
Highlanders v Blues
Waratahs v Fijian Drua
Reds v Chiefs
Round 3
Hurricanes v Force
Fijian Drua v Reds
Chiefs v Waratahs
Brumbies v Highlanders
Blues v Crusaders
Round 4
Highlanders v Force
Waratahs v Hurricanes
Blues v Reds
Crusaders v Chiefs
Brumbies v Fijian Drua
Round 5
Crusaders v Highlanders
Force v Reds
Hurricanes v Fijian Drua
Chiefs v Blues
Waratahs v Brumbies
Round 6
Hurricanes v Crusaders
Brumbies v Force
Fijian Drua v Blues
Highlanders v Chiefs
Reds v Waratahs
Round 7
Crusaders v Blues
Highlanders v Brumbies
Force v Waratahs
Chiefs v Hurricanes
Reds v Fijian Drua
Round 8 (super round)
Crusaders v Brumbies
Chiefs v Force
Blues v Waratahs
Highlanders v Fijian Drua
Hurricanes v Reds
Round 9
Blues v Chiefs
Fijian Drua v Force
Hurricanes v Highlanders
Brumbies v Reds
Waratahs v Crusaders
Round 10
Chiefs v Fijian Drua
Brumbies v Hurricanes
Highlanders v Waratahs
Force v Crusaders
Round 11
Reds v Blues
Round 12
Fijian Drua v Hurricanes
Chiefs v Crusaders
Blues v Brumbies
Reds v Highlanders
Waratahs v Force
Round 13
Blues v Fijian Drua
Brumbies v Crusaders
Hurricanes v Chiefs
Waratahs v Reds
Force v Highlanders
Round 14
Chiefs v Reds
Fijian Drua v Brumbies
Crusaders v Waratahs
Force v Blues
Highlanders v Hurricanes
Round 15
Fijian Drua v Crusaders
Reds v Force
Chiefs v Highlanders
Hurricanes v Brumbies
Waratahs v Blues
Round 16
Crusaders v Force
Brumbies v Chiefs
Fijian Drua v Waratahs
Blues v Highlanders
Reds v Hurricanes
Round 17
Hurricanes v Blues
Reds v Brumbies
Force v Fijian Drua
Highlanders v Crusaders
Waratahs v Chiefs