Super Rugby Pacific wrap: Crusaders, Chiefs send timely reminders of title credentials

Monday, 6 April 2026

Kyren Taumoefolau, left, and Liam Coombes-Fabling celebrate during the Chiefs’ win over the Waratahs in Hamilton on Saturday night.

The Hurricanes and Blues are preparing for a top-of-the-table Super Rugby Pacific blockbuster, but last year’s finalists have both put themselves back in the title conversation.

That much was apparent after an Easter weekend bereft of matches, but big on blowouts, as the Crusaders and Chiefs each served up reminders of their dangerous capabilities, and the lowly Force then even came up trumps in Brisbane to keep some welcome surprise results coming.

Now with daylight savings finished, the summer of cricket all over, and heading into the second half of the regular season, this Saturday night’s match in Wellington promises to be a beauty, in a week where new All Blacks coach Dave Rennie will be back in town on Japan Rugby League One bye round.

But, after putting their feet up over the holiday weekend, those two top-ranked sides will now be looking over their shoulders, after last year’s finalists combined for some 111 points and 17 tries in round eight.

The Crusade is on

The scripts really don’t go much better than that, do they?

In farewelling their ‘temporary’ Apollo Projects Stadium home, the Crusaders were able to notch exactly 100 wins at a venue which, while won’t be much missed, will still hold fond memories and a strong place in the franchise’s history, given the reason it all came about and the storied success the red and blacks went on to have there.

And not only did Rob Penney’s outfit come to the party and put on a send-off show in their 69-26 thumping of the Fijian Drua on Friday night, but Codie Taylor, in his 150th match for the team, certainly marked his milestone in style.

Codie Taylor celebrates with his family after his 150th Crusaders appearance was marked with a win and four tries, in the last match at Apollo Projects Stadium.

The pre-match scenes of the veteran hooker making his way onto the ground with wife and children, and facing a haka done by his Sydenham club team was spine-tingling.

And, in a week where he also celebrated his birthday, the now 35-year-old All Blacks centurion then went and grabbed four meat pies to cap it all off.

Already with the most-ever Super Rugby tries by a forward, Taylor raised his 50, then, after another rolling maul effort and a burrow from close-range, his roaming-out-wide finish saw him become the first forward to ever bag four in a Super game.

The Drua, having pushed the Blues hard for much of their contest at Eden Park six days prior, were so disappointingly second-rate in the fixture, and coach Glen Jackson clearly has no answer for his side’s mounting terrible away record, which has seen the side go an astonishing 3-39 away from Fiji, including now 25 losses on the trot outside of their nation.

The Crusaders, on the other hand, now have confidence restored. Their own defeat at Eden Park, which had them staring down the barrel at 1-3, now feels well in the past. While their opponents haven’t been top-drawer ones since, they have been impressive displays nonetheless, particularly with a heavy injury toll.

Now comes a string of three Australian sides to face, starting with a fortnight across the Tasman (in Brisbane then Perth), before hosting the Waratahs in the opening game of Super Round at their shiny new One New Zealand Stadium. That much-anticipated new roofed venue has the potential to ramp up the excitement levels even more for the defending champs.

Chiefs charge up

Seeing the Crusaders do their thing would have only enhanced the Chiefs’ desire to ensure they were also propelling themselves back into the minds of the punters.

With the Hurricanes rightly stealing the limelight of late, and the Blues stitching together a four-game winning run, the competition favourites needed something to prove they still had the goods.

Samisoni Taukei’aho, left, offloads to Xavier Roe as the Chiefs found their mojo in winning against the Waratahs.

And that came in the form of a 42-14 dispatching of the Waratahs in Hamilton on Saturday night, with the bonus-point victory lifting Jono Gibbes’ side from sixth to third on the ladder, now just three points off the pace.

Without Damian McKenzie (concussion), who, in any case, was underwhelming over the past fortnight in Australia, the Chiefs turned in a powerful and potent display which showed elements of them as their best selves, against a Waratahs side who had tipped up the Brumbies in Canberra the previous weekend.

Their set-piece remains excellent, and notably their scrum in this game, where Tahs coach Dan McKellar lamented his side’s inability to want to compete in the collision areas, and could even feel pre-game that they were flat, coming into their second bye.

With Kaylum Boshier and Samipeni Finau lifting their outputs, there is even more loose forward firepower still to come in the form of Wallace Sititi, who Gibbes says is nearing a return from a hamstring problem that has limited him to just one bench appearance this year.

The loss of Emoni Narawa to an ankle injury and wearing of a moon boot post-game is a concern, though offsetting that was the sight of Kyren Taumoefolau seizing his chance back in the starting side with a two-try display, in a backline where Xavier Roe was a general with a smart kicking game and Quinn Tupaea continues to be enormous in a midfield combination with the complementary skills of the converted Leroy Carter.

While pleased to see many more chances finished off by his side, Gibbes noted they still certainly still have another gear in them. The Chiefs now face bottom-of-the-table Moana Pasifika in Rotorua (the fixture moved from Tonga), before hosting the Hurricanes, in what will be a real test of where they’re at.

No Lomax, no worries

The Force had probably never known so much attention in this competition, with all eyes to be on NRL convert Zac Lomax and his debut off the bench in Saturday night’s match against the Reds in Brisbane.

Not so fast, as it turned out, with the former Dragons, Eels, NSW and Kangaroos centre/winger scratched due to a tight hamstring.

Worry not, said the Western Australians, who were already operating without captain Jeremy Williams (concussion) and star flanker Carlo Tizzano (knee).

Simon Cron’s side proceeded to go from 12-7 down after half an hour, to 35-12 up after an hour, then duly closed out a 42-19 win, as Williams’ lock replacement, Argentinian international Franco Molina, scored a memorable hat-trick.

It’s a great reward for a Force side who have been better than their 10th, now ninth, position on the table suggests. For the Reds, though, on the back of their shellacking by the Hurricanes, the wheels all of a sudden look rather unstable for coach Les Kiss, as he searches for answers in these final few games before leading the Wallabies.

Super Rugby Pacific, Rd 8

At Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch: Crusaders 69 (Codie Taylor 4, Sevu Reece 2, Chay Fihaki 2, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Corey Kellow, Seb Calder tries; Taha Kemara 7 con) Fijian Drua 26 (Elia Canakaivata 2, Joseva Tamani, Manasa Mataele tries; Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula 3 con). HT: 38-12.

At FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton: Chiefs 42 (Kyren Taumoefolau 2, Quinn Tupaea 2, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Samipeni Finau tries; Josh Jacomb 3 con, 2 pen) Waratahs 14 (Sid Harvey, Pete Samu tries; Harvey 2 con). HT: 23-7.

At Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane: Force 42 (Franco Molina 3, Mac Grealy, Darby Lancaster, Brandon Paenga-Amosa tries; Ben Donaldson 6 con) Reds 19 (Tim Ryan, Joe Brial, Filipo Daugunu tries; Jock Campbell con, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips con). HT: 21-12.

Points (games played): Hurricanes 25 (6), Blues 25 (7), Chiefs 22 (7), Brumbies 20 (7), Crusaders 19 (7), Reds 18 (7), Waratahs 14 (7), Highlanders 14 (7), Force 9 (7), Fijian Drua 8 (7), Moana Pasifika 4 (7).