Super Rugby Pacific 2025

[Strewthcobber]

That's certainly better than it being the whole way, but a lack of options is a lack of options - it's not clear there were taxis available for them at that time, at least not enough to get them there in a timely manor. I certainly don't think they piled into a luggage truck over taxis for headline purposes.

Absolutely. I'm not saying that.

I'm saying that once the bus didn't turn up, they made a choice that no other team in the comp would make, I'm guessing to save time?

Right now as it's made public, it's probably currently horrifying their insurers, their WHS reps as well as the local traffic police, and the driver and the Drua manager, or whomever was responsible for suggesting they get into the back of a luggage truck, should probably lose their job over it.

It's an incredibly unwise thing to do, no matter what other options were or weren't available.

 

[PhilClinton]

nah I’m with Lote on this…

Proper logistics and transport planning isn’t just the realm of super wealthy sports like the NBA, it’s a pretty simple concept that even the cheapest tour providers can organise.

May not be Super Rugby organisers fault that the bus provider double booked, but their responsibility doesn’t finish there. Either book through more reputable bus companies who can plan alternatives, or have a contact on-call to deal with those situations

Ask Atko when he was manager for the Reds where the buck fell in terms of making sure the team got from A to B.

It sounds like there is some blame to be placed over a lack of comms and double checking everything and the Drua are trying to wipe their hands of it.

 

[Wilson]

Yeah weird

I don't know that it is that weird - I'm pretty sure the competition has always managed these sorts of local logistics and it generally makes sense for them too - the Drua might be in Auckland once or twice a year, (Napier even less regularly), where as there are visiting Super Rugby teams coming in on a pretty much weekly basis. It's a lot more efficient (financially and logistically) for the competition to manage that week to week.

 

[Adam84]

I woulda thought its up to the team to manage logistics, right? Like it would make sense to have a contact point with Super Rugby broadly for emergency issues but that probably wouldnt typically involve booking a bus...

Nah… super rugby as a body have coordinated the logistics and bookings like this for years through whoever their travel agency/s are. It makes sense from an economies of scales sense with contracting the services and travel bookings across multiple counties.

Not sure how this aligns with teams like the Reds who have Alliance Airlines as a sponsor, but they don’t always fly Alliance though.

 

[Adam84]

Ask Atko when he was manager for the Reds where the buck fell in terms of making sure the team got from A to B.

It sounds like there is some blame to be placed over a lack of comms and double checking everything and the Drua are trying to wipe their hands of it.

You don’t think blame should be shared, at a minimum. I think blaming the Drua for something which was a responsibility of the tournament coordinators a bit odd

Transport was booked by super rugby, it didn’t turn up… Surely some responsibility falls back to Super Rugby in this case.

 

[Braveheart81]

I think it comes back to having someone to blame being rather pointless.

It happened, it fucked up their preparation for the match and maybe was the difference between winning and losing.

The question for the Drua should be "how can we avoid this situation happening ever again?"

Regardless of what percentage of the blame lies with Super Rugby I think you have to take charge of your own situation and do more to ensure these sort of mishaps don't happen.

 

[Wilson]

I think it comes back to having someone to blame being rather pointless.

It happened, it fucked up their preparation for the match and maybe was the difference between winning and losing.

The question for the Drua should be "how can we avoid this situation happening ever again?"

Regardless of what percentage of the blame lies with Super Rugby I think you have to take charge of your own situation and do more to ensure these sort of mishaps don't happen.

I think that's a big part of what this is - asking for a please explain and public shaming Super Rugby puts a lot of pressure on them to ensure it, or similarly avoidable travel issues, don't happen to them again. It's aimed at fixing the system rather than just putting band-aids over the failures in it.

 

[Adam84]

I think it comes back to having someone to blame being rather pointless.

It happened, it fucked up their preparation for the match and maybe was the difference between winning and losing.

The question for the Drua should be "how can we avoid this situation happening ever again?"

Regardless of what percentage of the blame lies with Super Rugby I think you have to take charge of your own situation and do more to ensure these sort of mishaps don't happen.

Doesn’t necessarily have to be someone to blame; accountability of substandard outcomes needs to be highlighted otherwise the same mistakes keep continuing.

This question you’ve posed surely extends to those coordinating logistics for SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) as well though. What went wrong, which provider failed to deliver the service and how do they negotiate better SLAs for the future.

 

[PhilClinton]

You don’t think blame should be shared, at a minimum. I think blaming the Drua for something which was a responsibility of the tournament coordinators a bit odd

Transport was booked by super rugby, it didn’t turn up… Surely some responsibility falls back to Super Rugby in this case.

Definitely agree it should be shared, but we are talking about this because the Drua don't see it that way.

The Drua and their spokespeople (i.e. Lote) have come out banging the drum saying it's all SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) fault and not addressed their own shortcomings, hence the people in this chat who are saying 'wait a minute, did anyone check on things from your end?'.

Like I said earlier, there would be someone on the Drua payroll who's job is ensuring logistics are sorted, and if they don't have that person in place then it is another issue altogether.

 

[Braveheart81]

This question you’ve posed surely extends to those coordinating logistics for SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) (Super Rugby Pacific) as well though. What went wrong, which provider failed to deliver the service and how do they negotiate better SLAs for the future.

Sure, I agree with all that.

My point is that without taking more ownership over the situation it will be the Drua who are questioning why the next logistics fuck up has also happened to them.

We obviously don't know what is going on behind the scenes and maybe they are on top of it but I have my doubts.

 

[Adam84]

Definitely agree it should be shared, but we are talking about this because the Drua don't see it that way.

The Drua and their spokespeople (i.e. Lote) have come out banging the drum saying it's all SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) (Super Rugby Pacific) fault and not addressed their own shortcomings, hence the people in this chat who are saying 'wait a minute, did anyone check on things from your end?'.

Like I said earlier, there would be someone on the Drua payroll who's job is ensuring logistics are sorted, and if they don't have that person in place then it is another issue altogether.

No, they haven’t come out banging the drum criticising SRP (Super Rugby Pacific).

Below is the Druas offical response to the issue. As for Tuqiri, he has nothing directly to do with the Drua so criticising them because of the comments from him is stupid.

‘Fijian Drua officials declined to comment on their trip but said in a statement the club was satisfied with the SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) review.’

“The Drua have gone through the right channels in a respectful way and are now satisfied that issues have been acknowledged and learnt from,” Drua general manager Baden Stephenson said.

 

[PhilClinton]

Nah - I think it's stupid if you believe Lote and Nadolo haven't been directly influenced by those within the Drua organisation with their comments.

Nems was posting pictures of them all in the back of the truck which have clearly come from someone within the organisation.

Anyway enough has been said about it.

 

[Dan54]

You don’t think blame should be shared, at a minimum. I think blaming the Drua for something which was a responsibility of the tournament coordinators a bit odd

Transport was booked by super rugby, it didn’t turn up… Surely some responsibility falls back to Super Rugby in this case.

According to the Bus company, someone in office got a bus cancellation and the said person cancelled wrong bus? F***ing office workers, they a waste of space .
But generally sounds like someone at bus company stuffed up. not a lot super rugby could do I don't think. A cock up , and the bus company should be perhaps put in the "the do not use again" basket, but not sure what else you can do?

 

[Adam84]

Nah - I think it's stupid if you believe Lote and Nadolo haven't been directly influenced by those within the Drua organisation with their comments.

Nems was posting pictures of them all in the back of the truck which have clearly come from someone within the organisation.

Anyway enough has been said about it.

Stupid? Right…

Without biting over the language, neither Lote or Nadalo are invoked in the Drua in any official capacity. Neither even played for the Drua whilst playing. Could easily be in group chats and empathetic to the issue given their heritage.

Druas statement on the issue is above… They’re the facts

 

[Bullrush]

You would assume the Drua still have a manager and they should be checking and double checking these things. Call the bus company just before your flight to confirm it's going to be there when you land.

In terms of the hotel, if you can't secure a late check-in before you arrive and it's important to you, the remedy is surely to book a few rooms for the next night.

The reaction to this does seem a bit overblown.

The Drua manager doesn't book the bus company or the hotel. The Drua manager would email or call the Super Rugby contact and confirm the booking - not the hotel or the transport.

If the transport or hotel management wouldn't be providing details or doing anything with the Drua management - the booking isn't with them. Unless the hotel have been given permission by SRP (Super Rugby Pacific), I would imagine that they cannot make changes to any booking or provide information to a 3rd party.

The reaction only seems overblown because it's not your team who is being put a disadvantage.

Are there any instances of this happening to other teams? I can imagine Tah players and management would not be happy if they were kicked out their rooms at the hotel hours before a game just to find out the Canes could prepare in the comfort of their rooms.

Those are the little things that can make a big difference at an elite level.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Are there any instances of this happening to other teams? I can imagine Tah players and management would not be happy if they were kicked out their rooms at the hotel hours before a game just to find out the Canes could prepare in the comfort of their rooms.

Those are the little things that can make a big difference at an elite level.

The teams manager would be given the details of the flights/hotel etc that Super Rugby book, but they would absolutely be checking them and confirming them etc. just like every other tour group.

There probably aren't other instances because other teams have competent managers, who confirm late checkouts as soon as they are given details of the booking

 

[Tomikin]

I never thought I would say this, but I think Super Rugby has been the best its been in years, I actually watched Tah's vs Force full game and will watch Reds vs Saders.. I also watched the Reds vs Force game.. (I watch every Brumby game) but last time I actually did this was Super Rugby AU. Its been a super exciting start to Rugby.. kicked off probably the good the wallabies brought to the game with Schimet

 

[dru]

I never thought I would say this, but I think Super Rugby has been the best its been in years, I actually watched Tah's vs Force full game and will watch Reds vs Saders.. I also watched the Reds vs Force game.. (I watch every Brumby game) but last time I actually did this was Super Rugby AU. Its been a super exciting start to Rugby.. kicked off probably the good the wallabies brought to the game with Schimet

Is it sustainable though, Tomikin? Ex Rebel sugar hit right now. Things will settle over the next season or two. I'm enjoying it for now but I'm not comfortable at what seems (to me) a likely direction.

 

[Wilson]

Is it sustainable though, Tomikin? Ex Rebel sugar hit right now. Things will settle over the next season or two. I'm enjoying it for now but I'm not comfortable at what seems (to me) a likely direction.

It depends, to a significant degree, on the next broadcast deal and how serious they are about the competition being of value in and of itself. If enough money is there and RA and the NZRU make the commitment to the competition as product then they can absolutely build off of the base this year is providing.

 

[Tomikin]

Is it sustainable though, Tomikin? Ex Rebel sugar hit right now. Things will settle over the next season or two. I'm enjoying it for now but I'm not comfortable at what seems (to me) a likely direction.

Probably not, we are already seeing we are losing the cream of our crop.. Ikitau, probably Thor, McReight.. even guys like Noah are going to be getting offers overseas that we can't compete with.. and if we dont have that top class players it will leave out again.