Latest news with #JackMesley
News.com.au
11-08-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Super Rugby Pacific schedule for next season to include Super Round in Christchurch
Super Rugby Pacific's Super Round will return next year, with the event to be played in New Zealand for the first time. Having been shelved this year after being held in Melbourne from 2022 to 2024, Super Round will again take place in 2026 on April 24-26, but this time in Christchurch, the home of reigning competition champions, the Crusaders. Entire fixture details are yet to be finalised, but Super Round will consist of five matches, involve 10 of the competition's 11 teams and will open with a game featuring the Crusaders. The April 25 Anzac Day program has been confirmed, with the Blues to meet the Queensland Reds, and the Hurricanes to take on the ACT Brumbies. Super Rugby Pacific chief executive Jack Mesley said hosting Super Round in Christchurch was a 'fantastic way to showcase the best of our competition'. 'Super Round is a celebration of what makes Super Rugby Pacific special,' Mesley said. 'Fans can expect fast-paced rugby, classic rivalries, and an electric stadium atmosphere as supporters across the Pacific come together to celebrate Super Round.' Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge said: 'There's no better way to kick it off than recognise the DNA of this region and start with Super Round hosted by Super Rugby Pacific and the very grateful Crusaders club.'
RNZ News
19-06-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Super Rugby final sells out in minutes
Photo: RNZ Saturday night's Super Rugby Pacific final between the Crusaders and Chiefs in Christchurch is sold out. Public ticket allocations were exhausted within minutes of going on sale on Tuesday. Super Rugby Pacific chief executive Jack Mesley said the demand reflects the quality and unpredictability of the 2025 season. "After 18 weeks of edge-of-your-seat rugby, where no result has been guaranteed, we now have a true battle of the titans to close out the season," he said. "It's a fitting finale in an incredible year. We're thrilled there will be a full house in Christchurch to celebrate. "Super Rugby Pacific has delivered on and off the field in 2025, and I can't wait to see how it all ends on Saturday night." Scott Barrett scores a try during the Crusaders v Chiefs, Super Rugby Pacific match, Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch. Photo: Martin Hunter/ActionPress Due to demand, a limited third release of 1250 additional tickets was made available on Thursday morning, only to be snapped up instantly. The final will be the last Super Rugby playoff at Christchurch's Addington Stadium with the Crusaders set to move to the new roofed Te Kaha Stadium from mid-April.
RNZ News
17-06-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Super Rugby Pacific boss on 'compelling' 2025 season and fan engagement
Photo: RNZ Super Rugby Pacific boss Jack Mesley says fans want to engage with the sport 365 days of the year. The season will reach its crescendo when the Crusaders host the Chiefs in the final in Christchurch on Saturday. Mesley told First Up the 2025 season had been "compelling". "We've seen a whole lot of upsets, we've seen lots of hoodoos broken and then on the pitch I think the new rules and the work of the match officials have set it up to play some really entertaining and combative rugby. "The stat was something like, I think we had 43 percent of games that were decided by only seven points or less," the Super Rugby Pacific CEO said. Closer games, stronger Australian teams, and big turn arounds from the Crusaders, the NSW Waratahs, and Moana Pasifika were a feature. "We saw the teams that were on the bottom of the ladder last year really change their fortunes ...it was the closest competition in points since 2004 so I think a lot of those teams just got better." Mesley said introducing Fantasy Super Rugby Pacific where fans build a team of 15 players who score points based on their on-field performance each week, had been a huge success. "We probably haven't delivered off the field and given fans all the tools that should go in and around a great product that we have on the field so we're working on that. We took some pretty good steps I think this year, Fantasy was one of those, some simple things like a weekly communications flow so that everyone knows who's in and who's out of the team. "And they've made a big difference. We know on Fantasy for example we had over 70,000 people playing, we know that those people were more engaged with the competition, they are more likely to attend, more likely to watch, more likely to talk about it with their friends. "Our planning for next season is under way already and we'll hopefully have some really exciting announcements throughout the off-season as to what fans can expect come February next year." Mesley previously held positions in league's NRL and A-league football before starting his current role in the middle of last year. He brought some lessons with him. "It's making sure that we've got all the ways that fans can engage with it 365 days of the year because that's what fans want." Mesley said the growth of Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua was also crucial to the success of Super Rugby Pacific. "They bring so much to the competition ...we know they have a fanbase wherever they go."
The Age
10-06-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Does it pass the pub test? Super Rugby finals system to be reviewed
Super Rugby Pacific bosses will factor in the 'pub test' when they conduct a post-season review of the competition's contentious new play-offs system, which sees the Chiefs host the Brumbies in a semi-final on Saturday despite losing at the weekend. The Super Rugby Pacific finals were cut back from eight teams to six this year but the adjusted play-offs structure has drawn criticism. With three qualifying finals in week one, the highest-ranked 'lucky' losers still progress, and that turned out to be minor premiers the Chiefs, who were rolled on Saturday by the Blues, the lowest-ranked side in the play-offs. Under the Super Rugby Pacific finals system, the Chiefs also retained the right to host a semi-final because the penalty for losing was dropping only one seeding position, as a reward for being minor premiers. The Brumbies, who finished third and beat the fourth-placed Hurricanes to progress, must this week travel to New Zealand, where no overseas side has ever won a Super Rugby semi-final. The tournament rules were in place from the start of the year but given the highest-seed losing to the lowest seed in Super Rugby finals is so rare, fans – and even some officials – were still caught by surprise by the fine print. The lowest-ranked team in Super Rugby finals had only ever beaten the minor premiers twice before in 30 years – when Super Rugby only had a four-team play-offs series, and Queensland lost semi-finals in 1996 (Natal) and 1998 (Crusaders). Super Rugby Pacific chief executive Jack Mesley said he was aware of the criticism, and it would be factored into a post-season review. 'We will definitely do a review. Clearly with the in-practice versus on-paper, you always learn things, and by seeing people's response to it,' Mesley said. 'Part of that review will be us looking at how complicated was the structure? There was also discussion last week around the scheduling, and can we do it in a way that makes the most of every match?
Sydney Morning Herald
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Does it pass the pub test? Super Rugby finals system to be reviewed
Super Rugby Pacific bosses will factor in the 'pub test' when they conduct a post-season review of the competition's contentious new play-offs system, which sees the Chiefs host the Brumbies in a semi-final on Saturday despite losing at the weekend. The Super Rugby Pacific finals were cut back from eight teams to six this year but the adjusted play-offs structure has drawn criticism. With three qualifying finals in week one, the highest-ranked 'lucky' losers still progress, and that turned out to be minor premiers the Chiefs, who were rolled on Saturday by the Blues, the lowest-ranked side in the play-offs. Under the Super Rugby Pacific finals system, the Chiefs also retained the right to host a semi-final because the penalty for losing was dropping only one seeding position, as a reward for being minor premiers. The Brumbies, who finished third and beat the fourth-placed Hurricanes to progress, must this week travel to New Zealand, where no overseas side has ever won a Super Rugby semi-final. The tournament rules were in place from the start of the year but given the highest-seed losing to the lowest seed in Super Rugby finals is so rare, fans – and even some officials – were still caught by surprise by the fine print. The lowest-ranked team in Super Rugby finals had only ever beaten the minor premiers twice before in 30 years – when Super Rugby only had a four-team play-offs series, and Queensland lost semi-finals in 1996 (Natal) and 1998 (Crusaders). Super Rugby Pacific chief executive Jack Mesley said he was aware of the criticism, and it would be factored into a post-season review. 'We will definitely do a review. Clearly with the in-practice versus on-paper, you always learn things, and by seeing people's response to it,' Mesley said. 'Part of that review will be us looking at how complicated was the structure? There was also discussion last week around the scheduling, and can we do it in a way that makes the most of every match?
