Super Rugby General Chat

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Great work.

Top 3 feel the most likely to be included in a Wallaby squad for mine and then Kautai has had moments. I like Spink and Ekuasi but there is so much to happen before the end of 2027 and 2028 we would need them to say I want to play for the Wallabies.

 

[Dctarget]

Out of curiosity and boredom on a lunch break,

You post on your lunch break? I thought we were meant to be doing the inverse.

 

[Wilson]

Out of curiosity and boredom on a lunch break, I put together a list of what, as far as I'm aware, is the list of "foreigners" playing for Aus Super teams. Other teams feel free to correct me.

Player	Position	Super Side	Original International Allegiance	International Status	Can become Eligible For Wallabies	Approximate date of eligibility
Charlie Gamble	Backrow	Waratahs	New Zealand	Uncapped	Yes	Apr-23​
Alex Hodgman	Prop	Reds	New Zealand	Capped	Yes	Nov-23​
Jahrome Brown	Backrow	Brumbies	New Zealand	Uncapped	Yes	Mar-24​
Cabous Eloff	Prop	Rebels	South Africa	Uncapped	Yes	Jan-25​
Angelo Smith	Lock/Backrow	Rebels	Fiji	Uncapped	Yes	Apr-27​
Sefo Kautai	Prop	Brumbies	New Zealand	Uncapped	Yes	May-26​
Vuate Karawalevu	Wing	Waratahs	Fiji	Uncapped	Yes	Nov-26​
Tamati Tua	Center	Brumbies	New Zealand	Uncapped	Yes	Nov-27​
Sam Spink	Center	Force	England	Uncapped	Yes	Nov-27​
Chase Tiatia	Fullback	Force	New Zealand	Uncapped	Yes	Nov-27​
Vaiolini Ekuasi	Backrow	Rebels	New Zealand	Uncapped	Yes	Jan-28​
Cormac Daly	Lock	Reds	Ireland	Uncapped	Yes	Jan-28​
Hayden Thompson-Stringer	Prop	Waratahs	England	Uncapped	Yes	Nov-28​
Felix Kalapu	Lock/Backrow	Force	New Zealand	Uncapped	Yes	Nov-28​
Ryan Louwrens	Scrum Half	Rebels	South Africa	Uncapped	Yes	10+ years Residency
Campbell Parata	Fly Half	Force	New Zealand	Uncapped	Yes	10+ years Residency
Jack Maunder	Scrum Half	Rebels	England	Capped	No	N/A
Matt Proctor	Center	Rebels	New Zealand	Capped	No	N/A
Peni Ravi	Prop	Reds	Fiji	Capped	No	N/A
Jeffery Toomaga-Allen	Prop	Reds	New Zealand	Capped	No	N/A
Santiago Medrano	Prop	Force	Argentina	Capped	No	N/A
Atu Moli	Prop	Force	New Zealand	Capped	No	N/A
Nikolai Foliaki	Center	Force	Tonga	Capped	No	N/A

Interesting stats:

More than half (12/23) are Kiwis. Handful of ex-ABs as Marquee signings, others chasing opportunity they're not getting for the Kiwi teams.

5 players are currently eligible for the Wallabies (or will be by the inbound tours) and a further 4 will become so by the home World Cup if their contracts continue. Not all of them are in serious contention, but interesting to note.

More than 1/3rd of the players on this list are props! If props aren't ready to play by the time U20s is finished Aus seems to have a problem getting them to the next level.

Awesome work. I did a full run down of all the super players wallaby eligibility at the start of last season, this looks in line with what I had.

Wallaby Eligibility

With the focus on Wallaby eligible players in the TotW and the good performance of various ineligible players recently I figured it was worth tracking the eligibility of players somewhere. This my attempt at that, based on World Rugby regulation 8 (not Giteau law), broken down into different...

www.greenandgoldrugby.com

Planning on updating that sometime over the off season now the squads are out, this should be very helpful.

 

[Dan54]

Interesting to see the players etc and where they from, got a quetion, someone smarter than me will know (I know all you buggers are smarter than me) . A player like Campbell Parata who has had 10 years etc in Aus (used to watch this kid playing for Southport School) he was been back to NZ for a few seasons playingclub rugby and NPC for the Mako, does this restart his residency qualifying etc for Aus?

 

[RugbyReg]

Don’t think so. If he’s done 10 years of cumulative residence then he’s eligible.

 

[Highlander35]

Interesting to see the players etc and where they from, got a quetion, someone smarter than me will know (I know all you buggers are smarter than me) . A player like Campbell Parata who has had 10 years etc in Aus (used to watch this kid playing for Southport School) he was been back to NZ for a few seasons playingclub rugby and NPC for the Mako, does this restart his residency qualifying etc for Aus?

Regulations | World Rugby

Information about the game's laws and regulations, including the World Rugby Laws app

www.world.rugby

8.1 Subject to Regulation 8.2, a Player may only play for the senior fifteen-a-side National Representative Team, the next senior fifteen-a-side National Representative Team and the senior National Representative Sevens Team of the Union of the country with which the Player has a genuine, close, credible and established national link in which:

(a) the Player was born; or

(b) one parent or grandparent was born; or

(c) the Player has completed sixty [1] consecutive months of Residence immediately preceding the time of playing; or

(d) the Player has completed ten years of cumulative Residence preceding the time of playing.

The "EXPLANATORY GUIDELINES" sections 14-19 explain what's hard and fast about the 10 years, and what's about "the vibes", but tl;dr Childhood time very much counts.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Paul Cully's piece on the McLennan situation contains this tidbit of info:

"...Kevin Molloy, the Auckland-based marketing expert who will be the inaugural chair of the Super Rugby commission for the first 18-24 months of the new entity’s existence."

 

[Adam84]

Even a marketing expert might struggle to polish that turd. Hopefully his kiwi background doesn’t blinker him to the different needs and requirements of the Australian market.

 

[The Marketing Pigeon]

Really interested to see if we can see the effects of the Super Rugby commission this season - I did like the fact that they reported that they want the game to have less ref influence and showcase the best possible brand of rugby to put on display

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

Paul Cully's piece on the McLennan situation contains this tidbit of info:

"...Kevin Molloy, the Auckland-based marketing expert who will be the inaugural chair of the Super Rugby commission for the first 18-24 months of the new entity’s existence."

That was reported back in Feb then again in June on the 2023 SPR thread

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^ I must've been distracted. I do remember hearing that someone had been appointed but not who it was. I know nothing about the bloke but presumably both RA & NZR agreed on him getting the gig so I'm encouraged by that.

 

[zer0]

NZ franchises have their jersey reveals today. Unfortunately not as coordinated as the squad announcements.

The Blues have finally lost that extra punishing white box around the NIB logo which, by default, makes it their best in years.

Personally I quite like the alternative jersey.

Highlanders.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Greg Feek joining Loss Bleus as scrum coach.

 

[Dan54]

Well watching the main news tonight, on the sports there was a bit on NZ super teams first day together ready for preseason, and had the news at Blues as they gathered.
I like this and it is good to see, part of the keep the game in peoples' minds etc even out of season. Seems some are trying anyway.

 

[WoodysRFC]

Well watching the main news tonight, on the sports there was a bit on NZ super teams first day together ready for preseason, and had the news at Blues as they gathered.
I like this and it is good to see, part of the keep the game in peoples' minds etc even out of season. Seems some are trying anyway.

Yes, the marketing has been good this season, particularly the Blues social media team, constant stream of content, making a big deal out of the jersey and squad announcements, players engaging with the community etc, as you say, keeping Super front and centre in people's minds, which is something that has been lacking in previous years.

 

[Dan54]

Blues at it again, https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby...blues-in-new-direction-in-super-rugby-pacific.

Once again I applaud this, helps to keep rugby and super on minds etc, and thats good for the game here. Blues are out of the blocks well this year with this stuff, and deserve kudos for it. I would guess it not only helps game, but keeps them in good preofile for sponsors etc.

 

[Adam84]

, as you say, keeping Super front and centre in people's minds,

experiences may vary

 

[The Marketing Pigeon]

Great incentive i heard out of the premiership that each week the players are getting sent out highlight clips to reshare on their own socials to increase fan engagement - would love to see similar in Super Rugby and the Super Rugby Socials pages posting constant highlights of games or players each week.
Think world rugby did a great job in the World Cup utilising tik tok to appeal to different mass audiences and introduce players to different markets.

 

[Dan54]

Once again, I liking where the Blues are coming from re super going forward, and once again keeping it front and centre in people's minds.
With all die respect to @Adam84 , I not sure about what's happening in Oz etc, but personally I like where this Hore fella is going etc.

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

CruSadists have signed Owen Franks as Oli Jager's replacement.