{"id":724330,"date":"2026-06-09T03:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T03:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/724330\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T03:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T03:19:09","slug":"super-rugby-pacific-finals-all-blacks-selection-questions-linger-after-high-scoring-knockouts-paul-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/724330\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Rugby Pacific finals: All Blacks selection questions linger after high-scoring knockouts \u2013 Paul Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Havili is a different sort of player and may yet tempt the selectors.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Havili has impressed for the Crusaders this season. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Are these basketball scores harming perceptions of Super Rugby?<\/p>\n

Hurricanes 66, Brumbies 12. Crusaders 52, Blues 31. Chiefs 46, Reds 24. Playoffs are usually tighter affairs, marked by a lift in intensity. Maybe it was an aberration, but those three games totalled 231 points or an average of 77 points a game.<\/p>\n

On the surface, that looks like entertainment. Another perspective: not an accurate guide to test match rugby and qualifications for same.<\/p>\n

Take Havili, for example. For all his talent, the selectors may look at a game yielding 83 points and conclude that playing well there may not be quite as creditable as doing the business in a close derby thriller with defences approximating test intensity.<\/p>\n

Scoring 77 points a game is way beyond the average scores in qualifying finals over the last five years:<\/p>\n

2025 \u2013 146 total points (average 48 points a game)2024 (four quarter-finals) \u2013 220 points (55 per game)2023 \u2013 229 points (57 per game)2022 \u2013 207 points (52 per game).<\/p>\n

In none of those other years did a team score over 50 points. Certainly, the ACT Brumbies copped a brilliant Hurricanes onslaught<\/a> but were lame defensively. The Blues were in the game even after Malachi Wrampling\u2019s red card, Anton Segner scoring to make it 14-14 with only 14 men. Then, as against the Chiefs the previous round, the Blues rather fell down the stairs.<\/p>\n

There are other explanations for the high scores \u2013 new rules have lifted the speed of the game, referees are letting matters flow more, and fatigue is a factor. However, in all three games, the majority of points was scored in the first half. Two were decided at halftime or shortly after, losing the competitive element of playoffs rugby and raising doubts again over the benefit of Super Rugby as test rugby preparation.<\/p>\n

Will there\/who will be the fifth lock?<\/p>\n

Jamie Hannah shone most brightly among the locks who are hopeful of cracking the first All Blacks squad, assuming there is a fifth selected behind Tupou Vaa\u2019i, Tuipulotu, Sam Darry and Josh Lord (also assuming Fabian Holland doesn\u2019t immediately return). Hannah is intriguing in that he has abundant ball skills and mobility and has trademarked raids in wide channels for the Crusaders.<\/p>\n

However, will the All Blacks selectors want a lock who roves wide or one focused on grunt work and first priority at test level: gaining and retaining possession? Hannah has an undoubted engine, is proficient in the lineouts, we assume his push in the scrum is up to snuff and it\u2019s probable his extra skills will be used at the top level at some stage in this busy season.<\/p>\n

His head-on carries are less impactful, which is why it\u2019s been clever using him out wide \u2013 but it\u2019s a marked contrast to, say, the Chiefs\u2019 Naitoa Ah Kuoi. He\u2019s far more of a traditional lock, good at spoiling in the lineouts and a constant force in rucks, mauls and cleanouts. In other words, more like test rugby.<\/p>\n

Who is winning the blindside flanker contest?<\/p>\n

One of the standout candidates from last weekend was a player less regarded recently: Ethan Blackadder. It has not gone unnoticed that he and the highly influential Fainga\u2019anuku have established a telling combination. Blackadder doesn\u2019t have his teammate\u2019s ability with the ball but is a non-stop tackler and makes breakdown after breakdown. His turnover led to Johnny McNicholl\u2019s first try after a smart offload by Christian Lio-Willie, another of the Crusaders\u2019 impressive loosies.<\/p>\n

\"EthanEthan Blackadder was a standout for the Crusaders against the Blues. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

The only black mark was when Segner scored, as Blackadder was too occupied getting rid of Finlay Christie from a ruck while Segner squeezed under him and others to score. Segner again played openside well enough but suffered in comparison to the outstanding Fainga\u2019anuku.<\/p>\n

Samipeni Finau came on for the injured Wallace Sititi<\/a> and made an impact, particularly with his carries and a couple of molecule-altering tackles. Some will have thought Simon Parker was relatively quiet \u2013 but he is another who arrives at a multitude of rucks and mauls and moves bodies and tackles relentlessly. In other words, more like test rugby.<\/p>\n

Parker may now need to show more with the ball in hand to head off Finau, Segner, Blackadder and another Chiefs colleague, Luke Jacobson. His core attributes of workrate and charging over the gain line were in ample evidence in the second half against the Queensland Reds, though he was outpointed by the Reds\u2019 Fraser McReight in the first.<\/p>\n

Blindside is the most intriguing selection in Rennie\u2019s first squad \u2013 with Parker, Finau, Jacobson, Blackadder, Segner and Lio-Willie all vying for one or two slots, although that may depend on whether Rennie rests Ardie Savea for some or all of the July internationals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Havili is a different sort of player and may yet tempt the selectors. David Havili has impressed for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[350860,9490,3265,350857,64,63,9658,25095,105298,350859,16308,13057,2650,5587,350855,350856,32482,791,350854,10956,1911,259171,126271,59906,263250,760,97575,85,9677,350858,1643,12531,101441],"class_list":["post-724330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-34strong","tag-after","tag-all","tag-arose","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-blacks","tag-dave","tag-efforts","tag-fill","tag-finals","tag-first","tag-four","tag-from","tag-highscoring","tag-knockouts","tag-last","tag-lewis","tag-linger","tag-pacific","tag-paul","tag-places","tag-qualifying","tag-questions","tag-rennies","tag-rugby","tag-selection","tag-sports","tag-squad","tag-striving","tag-super","tag-those","tag-weekends"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}