The OG League Super Rugby Pacific 26, Semi-Finals Rd 1 (of 2)
Tactical Nukes, Bench Sins, and the Aggregate Point Nightmare
The regular season is dead and buried. Welcome to the post-season, where the OG League splits into two completely separate universes.
In the upper tier, the top four managers have entered a high-stakes, aggregate-point semi-final series. While the 5th (Nabung) and 6th (Harry) placed managers sit back and think of what could have been, our bottom two managers are locked in a terrifying, two-week psychological death match to avoid having their name etched onto the physical Wooden Spoon trophy for all time.
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 Quarter-Finals Top Performers
You can read about the full round 16 team of the week here.
The Radical Post-Season Rules: Explained 📊🛠️
Because Draft Rugby doesn’t have an inbuilt finals engine quite yet, we run our postseason manually by spinning up completely fresh public draft leagues on the platform for each individual weekend.
The Aggregate Format: Both the Championship Semi-Finals and the Wooden Spoon Playoff occur over a cumulative two-week block.
The Total Reset: Every single manager has to draft a brand-new 23-man team from scratch each week in a linear draft (picked top to bottom rather than a snake draft). No carry-over rosters. No stashes.
The Outcomes: The two highest aggregate scorers from the top tier advance to a sudden-death Grand Final that mirrors the real Super Rugby Grand Final. The loser of the bottom-tier aggregate series is stuck with the official 2026 Wooden Spoon.
As always, you can check out the casualty ward updates for the Quarter and Semi-Finals, detailing all Super Rugby Pacific 2026 injuries and returns here.
Round Quarter-Final Fixtures:
Championship Qualifying Final:
Wooden Spoon Final
The Draft Night Breakdown 🍻🃏
The Championship Bracket Draft
Blake opened the Draft room at and immediately used his #1 pick to lock down Damian McKenzie. Andrew (Bondichi) snagged Samisoni Taukei’aho at #2, while Nelson swiped Leicester Fainga’anuku at #3. Cargie went for Quinn Tupaea at #4 to get us started.
The Steals: Nelson managed to snag Corey Toole late at pick #67, which looked like an absolute value heist on paper.
Cargie (David C) went searching for gold but found nothing but dirt, with Xavier Roe at pick #77, who wasn’t even named to play.
The Wooden Spoon Draft
Wylie opened the basement draft by snatching Damian McKenzie at #1, forcing Sean to take Cam Roigard at #2.
The Steals: Sean grabbed Wallabies breakout lock Josh Canham at pick #15, which turned into a massive scoring injection.
Wylie secured Christian Lio-Willie at pick #21, continuing his obsession with back-row stability.
Qualifying Semi-Finals: Leg 1 Deep Dives
Blake P’s Team (1) vs. (4) David C’s Team
Result: 711 – 744 (David C leads by 33 on aggregate)
An absolute point-scoring masterpiece to kick off the top-tier playoffs. Minor Premier Blake opened up a massive 711-point performance, driven by vintage showings from David Havili (78), Cam Roigard (77), and Damian McKenzie (77). In almost any other weekend of fantasy rugby, clearing 700 guarantees a massive blowout win.
Instead, Cargie (David C’s Team) threw a total tactical wrench into the script. Cargie’s draft strategy reaped historic rewards as Billy Proctor went nuclear for 73 points, backed by Christian Lio-Willie (71) and Cortez Ratima (63).
The Starters vs. Bench Sins: Blake left points out in the cold, leaving Filipo Daugunu (64) on the bench while Caleb Clarke disappointed (13).
Cargie carries a highly competitive 33-point lead into Leg 2.
Bondichi’s Team (2) vs. (3) Call An Ambulance... But Not For Me 🚑
Result: 663 – 600 (Bondichi leads by 63 on aggregate)
Nelson (Call An Ambulance) entered the weekend on tilt, finishing the regular season with 3 losses in a row, this week he faced even more misery against Andrew (bondichi’s Team). Andrew put together a highly clinical 663-point display, riding a massive wave from Warner Dearns (93), Fraser McReight (58), and Samisoni Taukei’aho (58). Nelson struggled to match the pack intensity, despite an outstanding top three with 79 from Leicester Fainga’anuku, 73 from Johnny McNicholl and 63 from Ollie Norris.
The Starters vs. Bench Sins: Once again, misreading the outside back situation hurt one of our championship drafters. Nelson started Corey Toole (63) over his old faithful Kini Naholo (34).
Andrew carries a solid 63-point lead into Leg 2.
The Wooden Spoon Playoff: Leg 1 Deep Dive
Tosing in the Toole shed (7) vs. (8) Please Don’t Let me Lose again!
Result: 710 – 735 (Sean leads by 25 on aggregate)
The stakes in this match are purely psychological. Because Sean finished dead last in the regular season, he is officially condemned to film the viral GRWM skincare punishment video regardless of what happens here. However, he is fighting like a demon to avoid the actual Wooden Spoon trophy.
In a staggering, record-breaking basement shootout, Sean (commically named “Please Don’t Let me Lose again!” when he wasn’t paying attention) edged out Wylie in a 700-point thriller. Sean’s desperation was fueled by a majestic 77-point masterclass from Cam Roigard and twin 73s from Billy Proctor and Johnny McNicholl. Wylie (Tosing in the Toole shed) fought back with an incredible 93 from Warner Dearns and 79 from Leicester Fainga’anuku, but fell just 25 points short at the final whistle.
The Starters vs. Bench Sins: Both managers will be absolutely seething when they look at their reserve logs. Wylie left Filipo Daugunu (64) and Ethan Blackadder (62) on the pine, choosing to start Wallace Sititi, who suffered an injury and scored a disastrous 2 points.
Sean was much wiser with his selection, but still left Fraiser McReight (58) on his reserves list, choosing to start Rob Valetini (20).
Sean takes a narrow 25-point advantage into the final leg of the Spoon playoff.
The draft rooms reset this Thursday at 8:00 PM live at the pub. Aggregate scores carry over. Roster wipes are imminent. Who is surviving the cut?
Quarter Final OG League Fantasy Facts
Best Player: Warner Dearns (93 points) - Wylie & Andrew.
Best Free Agent: Ngantungane Punivai (69) - Hurricanes.
Biggest Coaching Mistake: Wylie leaving Ethan Blackadder (61) on the bench, playing Wallace Sititi (2) instead.
Logged-in users can view the full OG League results and detailed breakdowns here.
Written by Harrison Dale