The OG League Super Rugby Pacific 26, Round 16
A Brotherly Betrayal, the Skincare Sentence, and the Ultimate Regular Season Finale
Super Rugby Pacific Round 16 brought down the curtain on a breathtaking regular season. But while the real-world teams fought for ladder position, the OG League front offices were a theatre of pure panic, sibling rivalry, and high-stakes survival.
As the final whistle blew on Round 16, the regular season table locked. The top four have punched entries into the premier playoff bracket, positions 5 and 6 see their season come to a quiet end, and the bottom two are officially condemned to a psychological war of attrition to avoid the wooden spoon.
For the manager landing in absolute last place, there is no hiding. They must face the music and produce the league punishment: a viral “Get Ready With Me” (GRWM) video posted across our socials right before the Super Rugby Grand Final, meticulously explaining exactly where their tactical brain failed them while slathering on skincare or makeup.
What is the OG League? For those newcomers joining us, The OG League is the founding Draft Rugby fantasy league and is in its 14th year of playing Draft Rugby. The OG League is a public and featured league on the draft rugby platform that you can follow along for the season if you have signed up to the platform. You can find it on the public leagues page featured at the top of draftrugby.com/leagues/join
Super Rugby Pacific Round 16 Top Performers
You can read about the full round 16 team of the week here.
Trades: The “Warm Body” Overhaul & Blockbuster Mercenaries
Because our league operates on a radical rule set where team rosters are completely wiped for the finals, nobody cares about long-term stashing. Trade night at the pub was an absolute arms race of manager-to-manager bartering and waiver churning to ensure everyone had a viable starter or a backup “warm body” on the bench to protect against pre-game scratchings.
Triple Trouble: In the most significant manager-to-manager deal of the window, James Wylie accepted a massive proposal from Blake Palmer verbatim, trading away Kyle Brown, Christian Lio-Willie, and Siale Lauaki in exchange for Pita Ahki, Brad Shields, and Daniel Botha. Wylie’s move to yield Lio-Willie (79) proved historic for Blake, though Wylie’s own results were season defining as well.
The Late-Night Sweep: In another major manager trade, Harrison Dale accepted David Carr-Gregg’s proposal to acquire superstar Hoskins Sotutu in exchange for Torian Barnes. Cargie wanted his namesake back for the “mana” it added to the boys; Harry wanted a starter. A match made in heaven, if only Harry actually played his new acquisition…
The Panic Waiver Flood: Right before the deadline, managers aggressively cycled players to cover late injuries. Alexander Nabung swapped Jock Campbell for Liam Coombes-Fabling (56), while Nelson Dale accepted Nabung’s proposal earlier in the night to deal away Charlie Gamble and Zuriel Togiatama for Rory Scott and George Bell.
You can check out the casualty ward updates for rounds 16-QF, detailing all Super Rugby Pacific 2026 injuries and returns here.
Round 16 Fixtures:
Leicester We Forget the Toole Shed vs. Samisonic The Hedgehog
Result: 484 – 452 (Season Series: SAMISONIC wins 2-1)
The bloodiest battle of the weekend was a pure family feud. Harry (Leicester) and Nelson (Samisonic) are brothers, rivals, and owners of deep psychological scars. Heading into the week, Nelson had won both prior matchups this year and was gunning for a clean 3-0 season sweep to officially “Make Harry his Bitch”, our sacred league term for a single-season manager sweep. Nelson was also desperate to push his brother into the last-place spot.
Instead, the script flipped entirely. Despite a brilliant 78-point performance from Patrick Pellegrini, and a return to form for Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (54) for Nelson, his team collapsed under the weight of a late pre-game scratch for Ethan Blackadder. Harry capitalised on the void, riding a proud 74 from Matt Faessler and 64 from Semisi Tupou to pull off a massive 32-point upset. Both managers left alot of points on the bench, either capable of pulling off the win with better coaching decisions.
Adding insult to literal injury, Harry even managed to get Wallabies star and draft rugby icon Nick Frost to record a personalised video sending his mock condolences to Nelson. Nelson’s premier championship hunt takes a dent, while Harry leapt out of the basement at the last second.
Lam & Order vs. Roigardians of the Galaxy
Result: 379 – 566 (Season Series: Roigardians wins 2-1)
With the bottom four incredibly tight, this fixture was effectively a sudden-death playoff to avoid the skincare tripod. Sean Stokoe (Lam & Order) had spent a massive chunk of the season dreaming of his first finals appearance, but a poor run of form meant he entered the round in extreme danger. Alexander Nabung (Roigardians), who sat comfortably in 1st place early in the year before an unprecedented 8-game losing slide, desperately needed to steady the ship.
It turned into an absolute massacre. Nabung’s squad finally found its rhythm, engineered by a clinical 70 from Dallas McLeod and 66 from Naitoa Ah Kuoi to hit 566 points, securing an Attacking Bonus Point that meant 5th place was guaranteed. Sean’s team completely fell apart. Mac Grealy (5) and Treyvon Pritchard (1) left his backline completely hollowed out.
The 379-point horror show officially lands Sean in dead last for the first time all year. In an unbelievable twist of fate, Sean claimed the wooden spoon and the punishment last season as well! Despite a massive overall points improvement this year, he has gone back-to-back in last place and is officially booked for the viral GRWM video.
Situti Down vs. The Toole Shed
Result: 549 – 620 (Season Series: Situti wins 2-1)
James Wylie (The Toole Shed) continued the greatest of great escapes, dropping an absolute bomb on Cargie (Situti Down) to completely shake up the top four. Wylie’s squad was absolutely electric, anchored by monstrous performances from the Crusaders outside backs, round-high 113-point masterpiece from Sevu Reece and a stellar 81 from Johnny McNicholl. Another great trade night pickup and one week wonder Tyrone Thompson (67) also assisted Wylie to clear the 550 threshold easily for an Attacking Bonus Point that took him out of last place.
Cargie put up a highly competitive 549, missing an attacking bonus by just a single point. Ioane Moananu (57), Rob Valetini (55), Tom Wright & Chay Fihaki (both 53) worked like crazy, but Wylie’s backline was simply too powerful. Cargie also couldn’t manage a losing bonus point, but even if he’d bagged the bonus points this week it wouldn’t have been enough to lift him to third as he’s so hoped and he is destined to face the minor premier in the semi-finals!
Ofa Tu’ungaFAST & The Furious vs. Expecto-Pa-TRY-trum
Result: 535 – 580 (Season Series: Expecto wins 2-1)
A blockbuster preview of the premier finals bracket. Minor Premier Blake (Ofa Tu’ungaFAST & Furious) rested a few key assets but still put up a robust 535, highlighted by Christian Lio-Willie (79), the premier asset he ruthlessly extracted from Wylie in the manager trade window, alongside handy shifts from Kyren Taumoefolau (51) and Josh Jacomb (50). However, Andrew (Expecto) was absolutely merciless. Guided by a 94-point demolition from Seru Uru and a classy 64 from Dylan Pietsch, Andrew stormed his way to 580 points to secure a crucial Attacking Bonus Point, carrying red-hot momentum into the post-season.
This spectacular win means Andrew finishes his debut Super Rugby fantasy campaign sitting proudly in a massive second place, with the ultimate prize well within his crosshairs. If the league ever needed definitive proof of the terrifying advancements in artificial intelligence, look no further than the history books. In 2025, the draft algorithm notoriously led Sean straight to a wooden spoon; twelve months later, Andrew’s data-driven AI masterclass has him on the precipice of landing a maiden title.
How Our Finals System Works 🏆🪵
Because Draft Rugby doesn’t have an inbuilt finals engine quite yet (we are developing it, don’t worry!), leagues looking to run a postseason simply need to spin up a brand new public league on the site with only the qualified managers involved. We need to get the finals fixtures into our system and come lineups time on Wednesday we should be good to go! Here is how the OG League postseason will shake out over the next two weeks:
The Championship Bracket (1 v 4 & 2 v 3): Minor Premiers Blake (1) will play Cargie (4), while Andrew (2) takes on Nelson (3). They will square off across a two-week aggregate point series. Crucially, managers will redraft a brand new 23-man squad from scratch for each individual week, picking in order from 1-4 (a linear draft), in contrast to the preseason snake draft. The two managers with the highest combined scores over the two weeks will advance to the sudden-death Grand Final, which mirrors the real Super Rugby Grand Final.
The Wooden Spoon Playoff (7 v 8): Position 5 (Nabung) and Position 6 (Harry) have run their race and can sit back to watch the chaos. Instead, Wylie (7) and Sean (8) enter a two-week circle of hell. They will also redraft a brand-new squad for both weeks. The manager with the lowest combined score after two weeks officially gets their name etched onto the physical Wooden Spoon trophy.
Round 16 OG League Fantasy Facts
Best Player: Sevu Reece (113 points) - Wylie.
Best Trade: Blake Palmer trading in Christian Lio-Willie (79) in a 6-player trade with Wylie.
Best Free Agent: Reon Paul (83) - Chiefs.
Biggest Coaching Mistake: Nelson Dale leaving Filipo Daugunu (57) on the bench, playing Israel Leota (1) instead.
The OG League Table After Round 16:
Blake wraps up a dominant minor premiership campaign on 55 points, with Andrew storming into second on 49 in his maiden OG league season. Nelson settles for third (44), while Cargie narrowly kept his final playoff spot on 41 points. Sean’s late collapse drops him straight to the bottom of the ladder on 31 points.
Will Sean’s lessons from his 2025 last-place finish save him in the Wooden Spoon draft, or is Wylie’s transformed Shed going to put the final, devastating gloss on his back-to-back nightmare?
Logged-in users can view the full OG League results and detailed breakdowns here.
What’s New on Draft Rugby?
This week we have some big announcements to make, so we are going to publish a separate article detailing it all!
Written by Harrison Dale