Super Rugby Pacific Round 7: Key Storylines & Must-Watch Players
Super Rugby Pacific Round 7: Key Storylines & Must-Watch Players
Get ready for Round 7 of Super Rugby Pacific! Key matchups, star players, and major storylines to watch streaming live in the U.S. and Canada on FloRugby
It’s a lighter slate than usual in Super Rugby Pacific this weekend, as three teams, rather than the customary one, are away from action in Round 7.
That by no means shows that there is any indication that the action across one of the world’s top club rugby competitions will come to a halt, especially as we could easily see a new leader atop the league standings by the end of this weekend.
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Here’s a look at one big thing you need to know about every Super Rugby Pacific match this weekend, with all matches being streamed live in the United States and Canada, exclusively on FloRugby:
NOTE: The Blues, Chiefs and Fijian Drua are on byes this week.
New South Wales Waratahs At Hurricanes
Sua’ali’i Starts In The XV
No, the New South Wales Waratahs aren’t a one-man team, and especially not when their most high-profile player has played in exactly one Super Rugby Pacific match in his career.
But if you don’t think the expected return to the starting lineup of Tahs code-switching star Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i will play a major role in Wellington this weekend, you’re lying to yourself.
The rugby league convert and recent Wallabies cap was stellar in the Tahs’ opening Super Rugby Pacific match of the 2025 campaign back on opening weekend against the Highlanders, but he also picked up a foot injury in that victory and hasn’t played in over a month.
Coach Dan McKellar has decided Sua’ali’i is ready to return to action in Round 7, as he’s named the hyped 21-year-old to outside center in his squad to face the Hurricanes, and considering how well the Tahs have managed to go along without him, as they sit fourth in the table on 17 points, Sua’ali’i’s addition - as long as he continues to stay healthy - could rocket them into true title conversation.
That being said, the Hurricanes are well-rested, too, coming off of a bye week in Round 6, right after getting a big away win over the Highlanders in their last match.
Highlanders At Brumbies
Hooper Hoopla
No player this Super Rugby Pacific season has been more respected for his play among his peers than the Brumbies’ Tom Hooper, and so far, he’s running away with the Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year vote.
The inaugural award, which is to be given at the end of the season, sees the captains and head coaches from each team in the competition nominate three players from the opposing side each week for three, two and one votes, in that order.
Hooper, a second-rower for the Brumbies and the Wallabies, was unable to guide his club to a win last weekend over the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney, but he did secure five votes as part of a man-of-the-match performance, and he’s now upped his season vote total to 18, five ahead of Damian McKenzie (Chiefs), Harry Wilson (Queensland Reds) and Caleb Tangitau (Highlanders).
And, speaking of the Highlanders, that’s who is visiting Canberra this weekend as part of a clash between two of the top-performing talents in Super Rugby Pacific this season.
And with the Brumbies in fifth place, and the Highlanders on the outside looking in for the playoff picture in seventh, there could be plenty of postseason implications up for grabs in their fixture.
Moana Pasifika At Crusaders
Just Like Old Times?
After a disastrous 2024 season in which they missed the playoffs, the Crusaders are back in a familiar position with the league-leading Chiefs on a bye-win, and they could go top of the Super Rugby Pacific table.
A statement 42-19 victory over the defending champion Blues at Eden Park last weekend silenced all doubts that the Crusaders have lost their luster from their glory days of winning every possible Super Rugby title from 2017-2023.
Coach Rob Penney’s bold call to sit Macca Springer (who had a Super Rugby Pacific-record five tries in Round 6 against the Western Force) ended up being a stroke of genius, as Springer scored off of the bench in the second half.
His replacement in the XV, Chay Fihaki, had a brace.
In what has high potential to be the most chaotic match of the weekend against Moana Pasifika, which is anchored to the bottom of the standings but always brings energy and entertainment, the Crusaders, if they want to truly prove that they can contend again, must take care of business against a side they’ll be heavily favored against.
On the flip side, however, good luck trying to stop a monstrous Crusaders attack that includes the likes of Springer, Fihaki and Will Jordan in the starting XV this week, among plenty of others.
Western Force At Queensland Reds
You’re A Wizard, Harry
Western Force fireball Harry Potter likely was the butt of many jokes in his youth due to his name, but the England-born, once-capped Wallaby has been breaking out for the Force in a way that’s been no laughing matter for a squad that can feature one of the competition’s most lethal attacks on a given weekend.
Potter signed with the Force in 2023 after a strong stint in England’s Premiership with the Leicester Tigers - starting in and helping the Tigers capture the 2022 final - and has been an excellent option as part of the Perth-based club’s rise to the playoff places, where it currently sits sixth in the standings and above the finals cutoff line.
He, along with Super Rugby Pacific leading try-scorer Carlo Tizzano, each scored braces in the Force’s 52-15 rout over the Fijian Drua last weekend to break a three-match losing run, playing as members of the supporting cast behind the brilliance of Nic Dolly, who notched a hat trick.
Potter had the try of the day on a sweltering afternoon at HBF Park, slicing through the Drua for a magical 55-metre score in the first half, and he’ll be aiming to keep his and the Force’s form going as they look to pull off a major shock on the road against the Queensland Reds.
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