Seru Uru – 1 Point
In his first start at blindside flanker for the season, Seru Uru was influential in the Reds’ 45-24 victory over the Fijian Drua. Taking on the men from his home nation, Uru got stuck into everything and spearheaded a dominant showing from the Reds’ pack, helping them rise to a fifth place finish on the ladder. Uru finished the game with a team-high 15 carries, with one try, one line break and three offloads in the mix, as well as 14 tackles in a very busy night. A reliable option at the lineout and in claiming restarts, there were also a lot of unheralded plays that Uru notched up, making it an important contribution to head into finals in good form.
Carlo Tizzano – 2 Points
Carlo Tizzano has been a real powerhouse at home this season and he continued that form on Saturday night to help the Force end their season on a winning note. The openside’s two tries lifted his season tally up to 10, with his first try of the night seeing him force his way over the line from close range to get his team in front 24-20. The Waratahs regained the lead shortly after but Tizzano took almost no time to respond with what would be the winning blow, dotting down on the back of a lineout drive to get the Force in front with just eight minutes to play. On top of that, Tizzano recorded 10 tackles and was a real pest at the breakdown, often slowing down New South Wales’ ball to help the Force hold the visitors to just three tries.
Sevu Reece – 3 Points
In his 100th cap for the Crusaders, Sevu Reece made sure he was the star of the show. As he often does, the winger lingered around the fringes and was always looking for the ball when the game was played in tight, but he really thrived when things loosened up. His strong, zig-zagging running saw him beat a team-high seven defenders, while also providing five offloads, completing seven tackles and, most importantly, scoring two tries. The first came as the opening scoring play of the night, with a lovely offload putting Dallas McLeod into a hole, before Reece dotted down a couple of phases later, and he played the provider role again for the Crusaders’ second, finding Noah Hotham with another offload. It was only right that Reece finished off the scoring, receiving a gift from McLeod to score in the corner, before the winger added the cherry on top with a sideline conversion to cap off an excellent 100th appearance.
Reon Paul – 4 Points
In just the second start of his career, Reon Paul looked comfortably at home, helping guide the Chiefs to a huge 59-34 win over the Blues. Taking the place of the resting Quinn Tupaea at second five-eighth, Paul had some big shoes to fill, but he barely put a foot wrong. The hosts ran in nine tries and Paul had a role to play in multiple of them, including the first, where he sliced through the Blues’ defence and fired a ball out to Kyren Taumoefolau who strolled in in the corner. His distribution and his offloading was just as damaging as his ball-carrying, as he finished his 80 minutes with 16 carries, two line breaks, four defenders beaten and 15 tackles in a complete performance. He was also able to get himself on the scoresheet late in the piece, jinking past an asleep Blues defence to bring up the team’s half-century and really turn it into a blowout at FMG Stadium Waikato.
© Photo: Blake Armstrong / Photosport
Patrick Pellegrini – 5 Points
Patrick Pellegrini was perhaps unlucky to miss out on some points in this column in last week’s narrow defeat to the Reds, but he is fully deserving of the full five points after his masterclass in Moana Pasifika’s 21-19 victory over the Brumbies. Heading into the game as massive 23.5-point underdogs, Moana were given virtually no chance of winning what may be their last-ever game, but Pellegrini helped his side defy the odds with a memorable performance. He saved his best moment til last, dinking a kick through the Brumbies’ defence before putting it on the toe again and regathering to get into enemy territory, before Melani Matavao finished off the move a couple of phases later to score an excellent team try and get Moana in front to ultimately claim the win in the Australian capital, despite being a man down. Pellegrini recorded a couple of tries of his own, the first coming in bizarre fashion, with the TMO belatedly determining that the first five-eighth had scored after play had resumed, but his second try was much more conventional, receiving an offload from Augustine Pulu before Pellegrini barged his way over the chalk to make it 14-14. It was a textbook flyhalf performance from the Tonga international, with his decision-making, kicking game, running threat and distribution all combining for a composed performance from Moana Pasifika, helping them record a massive upset to end the season.
Leaderboard After Week 16
1st Fehi Fineanganofo 15
2nd Leicester Fainga’anuku 14
3rd Cam Roigard 10
T-4th Callum Harkin 8
T-4th Fraser McReight 8
T-6th Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens 7
T-6th Max Jorgensen 7
T-8th Caleb Clarke 6
T-8th Carlo Tizzano 6
T-8th Ruben Love 6
T-8th Ryan Lonergan 6