The OG League Super Rugby Pacific 26, Semi-Finals & Wooden Spoon: Leg 2
Selection Heartbreak, Mouthguard Concussions, and a Disastrous Auto-Pick Miracle
The dust has officially settled on the most grueling fortnight in OG League history. The multi-draft, aggregate-point semi-final block is over, fracturing the league into its permanent postseason reality.
Two managers have weaponised their draft strategies to book a ticket to the head-to-head Grand Final. Meanwhile, the basement block concluded with the ultimate irony, crowning the official 2026 Wooden Spoon loser despite a literal computer-generated miracle on draft night.
Meanwhile, the league converged in person for a truly historic event: Sean serving his mandatory public punishment while simultaneously fighting for his life to avoid the physical spoon. If you want to see what absolute desperation looks like, make sure you head to our socials and YouTube over the coming week. Sean took his 'Get Ready With Me' penalty to unprecedented heights, executing a full makeup regime and rocking a dress straight into our live semi-final viewing party. To cap off the humiliation, the lads held a live, post-skincare press conference, using their sharpest journalistic prowess to ruthlessly interrogate Sean on where his tactical brain completely failed him this year.
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 Semi-Finals Top Performers
You can read about the full Semi-finals team of the week here.
As always, you can check out the casualty ward updates for the Semi & Grand-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 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 2 Deep Dives
Blake P’s Team (1) vs. (4) David C’s Team
Round 1: Result: 711 – 744 (David C leads by 33 on aggregate)
Result: 548 – 508
Absolute, unadulterated drama for the Minor Premier. Entering the weekend trailing by 33 points on aggregate from the Leg 1 upset, Blake drafted like a man possessed. Snagging Damian McKenzie (72) at #1 and pairing him with a vintage 72-point showing from Cam Roigard gave him a superb 548-point weekend. Both managers suffered early blows with AJ Lam (2) and Caleb Clarke (7) forced off in the first quarter with concussions for Blake and Cargie respectively. Thankfully for the minor prem Finlay Brewis continued his post season form, backing up last weeks 50 with a 62 point special.
Cargie (TEAM CARGIE) scrambled to a 508, anchored by a magnificent 61 from Xavier Numia (snagged at pick #52) and 56 from Patrick Tuipulotu (taken at pick #40). Blake won the weekly match by 40 points, which means this entire two-week tie came down to an agonizingly thin margin. Clutching up when it mattered most, Blake survives by exactly 7 points on aggregate to deny the ultimate 4-seed underdog heist and march proudly into the Grand Final.
The Bench Sins: Despite the win, Blake will be absolutely sick looking at his reserve wire. He left an incredible 62 points from Leroy Carter and 52 points from Isaia Walker-Leawere on his bench. Had he started either over Johnny McNicholl (15) or the concussed AJ Lam (2), Blake would have walked into the Grand Final in an absolute romp rather than a literal nail-biter.
The Prince that was Promised: Cargie talked up Prince Spencer (49) in our Hot Shit podcast back in the preseason. Had he listened to his own hype, he could have started the young star over the out-of-form Caleb Clarke (7) and made his way to another final.
Aggregate Totals: Blake’s Team wins 1259 – 1252
Bondichi’s Team (2) vs. (3) Fantasy Lords
Round 1: Result 663 – 600 (Bondichi leads by 63 on aggregate)
Result: 564 – 568
Nelson’s (fantasy Lords) title hunt finally ran out of premium fuel. Trailing Andrew (bondichi’s Team) by a solid 63 points after the Leg 1 wreckage, Nelson put together a highly respectable 568 points. His team was spearheaded by a roaring 83-point masterpiece from hooker Asafo Aumua (backed heavily at pick #11) and a dominant 70 from Du’Plessis Kirifi. However, his midfield completely disintegrated when top pick Leicester Fainga’anuku (taken as his first pick, and overall pick #3) trudged off in the 35th minute with an expected syndesmosis injury, capping his night at 25 points, while Kyren Taumoefolau (27) (Pick #27) was unable to get the scoreboard to reflect his two tries.
Andrew had way too much carry-over padding to be caught. Despite losing Isaac Hutchinson (taken at pick #42) who injuried his MCL in the act of scoring a try to finish on 40, Andrew rode a clinical 62 from Samisoni Taukei’aho (his prize #2 pick) and 58 from Jordie Barrett to lock down 564 points. Nelson wins the weekend match by a mere 4 points, but Andrew cruises through on a 59-point aggregate victory to punch his ticket to the big dance.
Drafting Disaster - Nelson was the aggressor at draft night, stealing starting players off his opposition, forcing Andrew into starting a benched Kini Naholo (45) instead of a starting Cole Forbes (35). Sadly it backfired for Nelson as Kini lit the game up in his short stint.
Selection Masterclass - Andrew continued his tactical masterclass by selecting his starting 15 perfectly. Not one bench player would have raised his overall score this week.
Aggregate Totals: Andrew wins 1227 – 1168
The Wooden Spoon Playoff: Leg 1 Deep Dive
Spoon Avoidance mode (7) vs. (8) Not Last
Round 1: Result 710 – 735 (Sean leads by 25 on aggregate)
Result: 636 – 547
The psychological theater of the lower tier reached peak comedy on Saturday night. Sean (not last) entered the draft room Thursday so thoroughly broken by his looming mandatory regular-season skincare sentence that he lost his mind completely at pick #14. In an act of total delusion, Sean drafted Tamaiti Williams, a man who has been ruled out with a back injury since Round 7. Because he walked away from his computer, the platform marked him inactive and auto-drafted Xavier Numia for his final pick at #46. In a shocking twist of fantasy fate, that computer-generated auto-pick scored a try and rumbled to an incredible 61 points off the auto-wire!
Despite losing Quinn Tupaea (18) early than expected, Sean’s ghost ship put up a strong 547 thanks largely to Du’Plessis Kirifi (70), Samisoni Taukei’aho (62) and Tupou Vaa’i (56) , and Josh Moorby’s 67.
Unfortunately for Sean, Wylie (Spoon Avoidance mode) was completely conscious and executing a masterpiece to overturn Sean’s 25-point buffer from Leg 1. Wylie dropped a massive, round-high 636 points, engineered by Cam Roigard and Damian McKenzie dual 72’s, and Josh Moorby’s (67). Wylie wins the leg by 89 points, easily erasing the deficit.
The Bench Sins: Sean’s bench actually out-scored his starting lineup by a big margin. He left Asafo Aumua (83) and Callum Harkin (52). Had he simply been awake to set his starting lineup…. no he still would have come dead last.
Aggregate Totals: Wylie wins 1346 – 1282
The Grand Final shootout between Blake & Andrew Drafts this Thursday at 8:00 PM live at the pub. You’ll be able to follow along on the OG League Grand Final’s Public league.
Semi Final OG League Fantasy Facts
Best Player: Asafo Aumua (83 points) - Nelson & Sean.
Best Free Agent: Leroy Carter (62) - Chiefs.
Biggest Coaching Mistake: Sean leaving Callum Harking (52) on the bench, playing Johnny McNicholl (15) instead.
Best Super Sub: Xavier Numia (61) covered Tamaiti Williams
Written by Harrison Dale