The table-topping Hurricanes landed just one player in SANZAAR's inaugural Super Rugby Pacific Team of the Year, while Australian clubs beaten in the finals' first week dominated the side, and the pundits cried foul.
Chiefs centre Quinn Tupaea wins the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year on a tiebreaker over Timoci Tavatavanawai, while the official Team of the Year, packed with seven Australians, draws a sharp backlash.
The Hurricanes and Chiefs have confirmed their line-ups for Saturday's Super Rugby Pacific Grand Final in Wellington, with the home side boosted by Devan Flanders' return and the Chiefs forced into two injury changes.
The Hurricanes will host the Chiefs in Wellington on 20 June for the Super Rugby Pacific Grand Final, both sides arriving on the back of crushing semi-final wins.
The Hurricanes host the Blues and the Chiefs face the Crusaders in this weekend's Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals, with Beauden Barrett named at fullback and Damian McKenzie set for his 150th cap.
The Chiefs beat the Reds 46-24 and the Crusaders downed the Blues 52-31 to set up an all-New Zealand Super Rugby Pacific semi-final line-up, though the Blues' 'lucky loser' reprieve has sparked debate.
Super Rugby's fan-voted all-time XV for its 30th season has reignited debate, with George Smith, Brodie Retallick and Rupeni Caucaunibuca among the talking points.
The Hurricanes open the Super Rugby Pacific finals against the Brumbies, with Crusaders v Blues and Chiefs v Reds to follow - and a lucky-loser rule that keeps the lower seeds alive.
Super Rugby Pacific's regular season closes with the top six locked but the seedings still live. The prize on the final weekend is a home quarter-final — and the surging Crusaders are squarely in the hunt.
Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley confirms 'inbound interest' from clubs worldwide and says a Japanese return is 'possible' down the road as the league plots its next broadcast-cycle geography.
Jeff Wilson does not hand out generational endorsements lightly, but on Sky's The Breakdown he said Clark Laidlaw's Hurricanes are saving New Zealand rugby — and tipped them to win the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific title.
Rugby Heaven's Justin Harrison and Hugh Sheppard worked the Super Rugby Pacific ladder permutations with two rounds left — Brumbies most in control on 29 points and chasing a home quarter-final, Reds still mathematically alive at 28, and only Moana Pasifika mathematically eliminated.
On the debut episode of the Rivals podcast, All Blacks great Sir John Kirwan says Super Rugby has 'amazing for us for the last 30 years' but is now finished, urging New Zealand and Australia to bring back provincial tribalism and reshape the southern hemisphere game like the NRL.
Veteran rugby commentator Tony Johnson has used the DSPN Super Rugby Pacific Roundup to flag the in-form Super Rugby players Dave Rennie cannot afford to leave out of his first All Blacks squad of 2026.
Former Leinster hooker turned analyst Bernard Jackman has bluntly admitted Super Rugby Pacific has 'gone off the radar' for Northern Hemisphere pundits, with the Top 14 now his pick as the world's most competitive league, while predicting Leinster will lean on Jacques Nienaber's Springbok defence in their Champions Cup final against Bordeaux.
Wildkard Rugby has torn into Super Rugby Pacific over what he calls 'the worst refereeing we've seen this year' in Round 13's Reds v Chiefs, arguing that an obsession with copying rugby league's 'ball-in-play time' is destroying the integrity of decisions.
Aotearoa Rugby Pod's Brenner Newton and Ross Karl have put a number on what Highlanders fans have felt for four seasons: 42% of their 47 Super Rugby Pacific losses have been by seven points or fewer. After last weekend's narrow Fijian Drua defeat in Lautoka, the panel called the Highlanders the competition's most frustrating team.
Stan Sport executive producer and commentator Andrew Swain joins the Aus Rugby Scene podcast to break down a Super Rugby Pacific run-in featuring a feasible three-Australian-team finals push, a 40-minute Western Force defensive masterclass, and a Brumbies side in genuine need of a reset.
Two Cents Rugby breaks down a defining Round 12 in Super Rugby Pacific: Hurricanes hold off the Crusaders to lead by two, the Force shock the Waratahs in Sydney, the Drua bury the Highlanders under turnovers, and the Reds outlast the Brumbies in a Brisbane arm-wrestle.
Super Rugby Pacific boss Jack Mesley has confirmed talks with the Fijian government about a 'Bula Round' built on the same blueprint as Christchurch's sold-out Super Round.