The Silver Fern

Have heard Dalton Papalii is looking offshore, possibly already signed offshore. Anyone got anything on that?

Every cloud a silver lining.

After years and years of bad luck, it feels like the stars might just be aligning for Folau Fakatava - who is an extremely good halfback in his own right.

Tried to get Arscott as a replacement but he has had a shoulder operation.

I am assuming Shearer into the main squad.

Can confirm ACL.

@Duluth said in Super Rugby 2026:

@frugby said in Super Rugby 2026:

I think there should be more teams and the larger ones should be broken up. There should be more opportunities for players to play close to their home.. that makes for a more tribal competition with more interest.

I find this quite fascinating. Have recently been in the UK, and the sheer density of population/football teams in London is incredible, and it goes back to your first point.

Why is it, that Auckland, a city of 1.5m, struggles to support two Super Rugby teams, given rugby is our national game?

Sydney is about 2x as big and they support 9 NRL teams.

Is it better to look at the population of rugby fans as opposed to actual population?

I think a ranking of average crowd size for the 14 NPC sides + the 5 Super Rugby sides would be interesting.

@Duluth said in Super Rugby 2026:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360913526/numbers-which-super-rugby-franchise-has-most-players-schooled-within-their-region

Van Royen makes the mistake of talking about he population and assuming the Blues have a huge advantage.

The Chiefs region is more populated than people think

2019 population numbers for the franchises:

Region	Population
Blues	1.396m
Chiefs	1.333m
Hurricanes	1.019m
Crusaders	0.797m
Highlanders	0.337m

He should make the point about the schools comp attracting outside talent instead

I do think there is an issue with franchise distribution though. 40% of contracts being in the SI and 20% being in Dunedin isn't a good spread

Might not be good for the players - but what about the fans?

The Highlanders certainly used to have the best average crowd (and possibly still do)

The Blues struggle to get a crowd to match their population with one team, so why chuck another team up there. The crowds Moana get are poor.

@Canes4life hOsKinS sOtUtu

Have enquired r.e a knee surgery for Tavatavanawai but nobody seems to know of it. I guess it is possible, he is getting some stuff tidied up over Christmas, but nothing to suggest it will be longer-term.

@Nogusta Hadn’t heard that. Will enquire.

@jimmyb said in Highlanders 2026:

Are we completely injury free leading up to pre season or have any players been confirmed to miss a few rounds/season?

Jim is a couple of weeks away, I imagine Te Hiwi and Ma’u won’t be ready till after Christmas

Renton is out till the back end of January

I really want to love it, but there is something about it that just seems a little off to me, can’t really put my finger on it.

At the end of the day, I remember kits for how well we play in them so this will be an all-time classic

@Bovidae One would assume, it'll be France in Christchurch, and Ireland/Australia in Auckland. Wellington is likely to get the other one of those, unless Auckland takes both and they play Italy there.

If they opt for a fourth venue, would likely be Italy in Dunedin, but given there is only four home tests, I suspect they will want two in Auckland.

The other consideration, is that Italy might be a tougher sell, so Christchurch could be the ideal location for it.

@canefan said in New All Black Coach:

@frugby said in New All Black Coach:

@canefan said in New All Black Coach:

@taniwharugby said in New All Black Coach:

When are.they looking to announce the replacement for Holland?

Who are suitable and available candidates?

If I recall they didn't say there definitely would be a replacement. They might just rearrange duties with the guys they've got

I think the replacement possibly depends a little bit on what happens with Tamati Ellison.

Razor's traditional right-hand man always seemed to be Jason Ryan, and I wonder whether if he isn't thrown out, whether Scott Hansen being moved into a lesser role (Defence Coach), with a fresh attack coach brought in, might actuallly result in meaningful change.

The trouble with your theory is that article in which Razor basically said Hansen is the ad hoc head coach. Whereas he is the blue sky feels guy. Add to that the rumour that Leon left because he wasn't happy answering to Hansen. The smoke billows around Hansen

Oh totally agree - I guess I was trying to look at what could be a semi-realistic situation that is better than what we have currently - because I can't see Razor, Ryan or Hansen going before the Boks Tour.

@mariner4life said in New All Black Coach:

@frugby said in New All Black Coach:

moved into a lesser role (Defence Coach

if we see the defence coach as a lessor role then we are truly fucked

I think defence coach is probably lesser than attack coach? In theory, how you attack decides how much you defend.

Lesser might not be the right word, but I think in terms of seniority, I definitely think it sits above.

@canefan said in New All Black Coach:

@taniwharugby said in New All Black Coach:

When are.they looking to announce the replacement for Holland?

Who are suitable and available candidates?

If I recall they didn't say there definitely would be a replacement. They might just rearrange duties with the guys they've got

I think the replacement possibly depends a little bit on what happens with Tamati Ellison.

Razor's traditional right-hand man always seemed to be Jason Ryan, and I wonder whether if he isn't thrown out, whether Scott Hansen being moved into a lesser role (Defence Coach), with a fresh attack coach brought in, might actuallly result in meaningful change.

As much as we all take the piss out of Scott Hansen, he does actually have a reasonable resume, but the interesting thing with it, is he has only ever been in places for a maximum of three seasons - is that maybe an indication of his personality.

That said, if he really is an insipid twat, I can't really see how he would have survived with Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown for the best part of five years, then gone onto the Crusaders, and then be welcome into the All Blacks.

I really look forward to the lid being lifted on the BTS of the 2024-25 All Blacks.

Scott Hansen

United a nation and made the impossible possible.

Given the ABs play only 4 home tests next year, I wonder whether they could potentially organise for the ABs XV to play some games during the July International period.

I know this is when the Maori ABs have traditionally played, but I feel like this would be a great chance for the next tier to get some experience ahead of the Boks Tour

Inherently I don’t mind Jamieson being managed, but I feel like if this was going to be the case he’d have been better served playing the Ford Trophy and first two rounds of the Plunket Shield for Canterbury to get him ready as opposed to playing the T20s and ODIs