{"id":895370,"date":"2026-09-17T13:48:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/895370\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T13:48:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:48:23","slug":"super-rugby-pacific-ranking-this-years-best-draw-announcements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/895370\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Rugby Pacific: Ranking this year\u2019s best draw announcements"},"content":{"rendered":"

8th: Blues<\/p>\n

The Blues\u2019 simple video is set to a good song in Kanye West\u2019s Runaway and the shots of Auckland are strong, making you appreciate the city. <\/p>\n

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\u2019t complete without seeing the entire fixture list.<\/p>\n

The basics are there, but the execution needs to be better.<\/p>\n

7th: Highlanders<\/p>\n

The Highlanders came late to the draw announcement video party and they at least showed up with all their fixtures. <\/p>\n

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\u2019s logo was a nice touch. <\/p>\n

There felt like something was missing from this overall, though, as if there was going to be a big reveal and you\u2019d see the person pinning the clubs on the map. <\/p>\n

It was fun and original, but a lack of oomph stopped this from being a top-five video. <\/p>\n

6th: Hurricanes<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t seen the latest Spider-Man film (this isn\u2019t a spoiler), it ends with aesthetic shots of New York City under Steve Lacy\u2019s Oh Yeah? But the Hurricanes social media team replaced the American city with shots of Wellington (that\u2019s a huge upgrade).<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

5th: Western Force<\/p>\n

The Western Force put their players to good use in their draw announcement video as Brandon Paenga-Amosa acts as Dylan Pietsch\u2019s therapist. <\/p>\n

The video then warps inside Pietch\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

This might be the favourite announcement of Qantas, Air New Zealand and Fiji Airways as their logos are displayed prominently throughout.<\/p>\n

4th: Brumbies<\/p>\n

This is the best use of a trend out of all the announcement videos as the Brumbies master the \u201cNetflix doc\u201d with seven players and coach Stephen Larkham putting in strong acting performances. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

And not to be that guy, but they do spell Corroboree Group Oval Manuka wrong at one point and I can\u2019t overlook that. <\/p>\n

3rd: Crusaders<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

A horse eating a carrot and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon throwing his support behind the Waratahs<\/a> were good ways to promote games against the Brumbies and Waratahs, while I\u2019m sure Highlanders fans would\u2019ve enjoyed the replay of Mitch Hunt\u2019s drop goal. <\/p>\n

This is a great video overall, but I felt a compilation of big State of Origin hits wasn\u2019t the best way to preview their Blues fixtures. <\/p>\n

2nd: Waratahs<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

They receive major points here for originality and putting their stars in an unnecessary situation for our entertainment. <\/p>\n

Great pictures, great views of the city and they announce all their matches, making it the second-best announcement video of the year.<\/p>\n

1st: Reds<\/p>\n

The Reds brought the heat with this announcement video, with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Massimo De Lutiis eating progressively hotter chicken wings. <\/p>\n

The concept of eating hot wings isn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n

Salakaia-Loto does not need to go for a sauna as the amount of sweat he produced probably brought him down a weight class. <\/p>\n

An excellent video that showed all the games for the Reds this season and one that can be enjoyed by all fans. <\/p>\n

Super Rugby draw<\/p>\n

Round 1<\/p>\n

Crusaders v Reds<\/p>\n

Brumbies v Waratahs<\/p>\n

Fijian Drua v Highlanders<\/p>\n

Blues v Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Force v Chiefs<\/p>\n

Round 2<\/p>\n

Crusaders v Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Force v Brumbies<\/p>\n

Highlanders v Blues<\/p>\n

Waratahs v Fijian Drua<\/p>\n

Reds v Chiefs<\/p>\n

Round 3<\/p>\n

Hurricanes v Force<\/p>\n

Fijian Drua v Reds<\/p>\n

Chiefs v Waratahs<\/p>\n

Brumbies v Highlanders<\/p>\n

Blues v Crusaders<\/p>\n

Round 4<\/p>\n

Highlanders v Force<\/p>\n

Waratahs v Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Blues v Reds<\/p>\n

Crusaders v Chiefs<\/p>\n

Brumbies v Fijian Drua<\/p>\n

Round 5<\/p>\n

Crusaders v Highlanders<\/p>\n

Force v Reds<\/p>\n

Hurricanes v Fijian Drua<\/p>\n

Chiefs v Blues<\/p>\n

Waratahs v Brumbies<\/p>\n

Round 6<\/p>\n

Hurricanes v Crusaders<\/p>\n

Brumbies v Force<\/p>\n

Fijian Drua v Blues<\/p>\n

Highlanders v Chiefs<\/p>\n

Reds v Waratahs<\/p>\n

Round 7<\/p>\n

Crusaders v Blues<\/p>\n

Highlanders v Brumbies<\/p>\n

Force v Waratahs<\/p>\n

Chiefs v Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Reds v Fijian Drua<\/p>\n

Round 8 (super round)<\/p>\n

Crusaders v Brumbies<\/p>\n

Chiefs v Force<\/p>\n

Blues v Waratahs<\/p>\n

Highlanders v Fijian Drua<\/p>\n

Hurricanes v Reds<\/p>\n

Round 9<\/p>\n

Blues v Chiefs<\/p>\n

Fijian Drua v Force<\/p>\n

Hurricanes v Highlanders<\/p>\n

Brumbies v Reds<\/p>\n

Waratahs v Crusaders<\/p>\n

Round 10<\/p>\n

Chiefs v Fijian Drua<\/p>\n

Brumbies v Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Highlanders v Waratahs<\/p>\n

Force v Crusaders<\/p>\n

Round 11<\/p>\n

Reds v Blues<\/p>\n

Round 12<\/p>\n

Fijian Drua v Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Chiefs v Crusaders<\/p>\n

Blues v Brumbies<\/p>\n

Reds v Highlanders<\/p>\n

Waratahs v Force<\/p>\n

Round 13<\/p>\n

Blues v Fijian Drua<\/p>\n

Brumbies v Crusaders<\/p>\n

Hurricanes v Chiefs<\/p>\n

Waratahs v Reds<\/p>\n

Force v Highlanders<\/p>\n

Round 14<\/p>\n

Chiefs v Reds<\/p>\n

Fijian Drua v Brumbies<\/p>\n

Crusaders v Waratahs<\/p>\n

Force v Blues<\/p>\n

Highlanders v Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Round 15<\/p>\n

Fijian Drua v Crusaders<\/p>\n

Reds v Force<\/p>\n

Chiefs v Highlanders<\/p>\n

Hurricanes v Brumbies<\/p>\n

Waratahs v Blues<\/p>\n

Round 16<\/p>\n

Crusaders v Force<\/p>\n

Brumbies v Chiefs<\/p>\n

Fijian Drua v Waratahs<\/p>\n

Blues v Highlanders <\/p>\n

Reds v Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Round 17<\/p>\n

Hurricanes v Blues<\/p>\n

Reds v Brumbies<\/p>\n

Force v Fijian Drua<\/p>\n

Highlanders v Crusaders<\/p>\n

Waratahs v Chiefs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"8th: Blues The Blues\u2019 simple video is set to a good song in Kanye West\u2019s Runaway and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[41612,464628,64,63,1700,23816,2992,164014,22870,1899,26796,464627,179070,10956,58312,760,85,1643,1928,19004,32227,446,4050,3605,32388],"class_list":["post-895370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-announcements","tag-announcing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-best","tag-clubs","tag-draw","tag-draws","tag-going","tag-have","tag-hope","tag-hopped","tag-mostly","tag-pacific","tag-ranking","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-super","tag-their","tag-this","tag-trend","tag-video","tag-viral","tag-with","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895370","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=895370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}