Picking the Super Rugby Pacific Dream Team of the Month

Only two Australian players have been voted into a fan-selected Super Rugby Pacific Dream Team one month after the competition kicked-off.

Home to the best players on offer in New Zealand, Australia and the wider Pacific region, the RugbyPass Super Rugby Dream Team offers fans the chance to have their say as to who the best players in the competition are on a week-by-week basis.

Exactly one month on from the season-opening clash between the Waratahs and Fijian Drua in Sydney, fans have taken to the polls to vote for who they believe to be the best player in each position across every round.

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Each round has its own Dream Team, made up of players who won the most votes in their respective positions based on their performances in that round.

Votes accumulate over the course of the season to create an overall Dream Team, a composite team comprised of the highest-voted players from throughout the year.

After four rounds and 21 matches of action, only two Wallabies, and a Los Pumas star, have bucked the trend of Kiwi dominance in the overall RugbyPass Super Rugby Dream Team, which currently features 12 New Zealanders.

This is in spite of the Australian dominance on the Super Rugby Pacific table, which has the Brumbies and Reds – both of whom are unbeaten – in first and second place, while the Waratahs sit in fourth spot behind the Crusaders.

However, Reds duo Taniela Tupou and James O’Connor are the sole Australian representatives in the RugbyPass Super Rugby Pacific Dream Team after having won the most votes at tighthead prop and first-five, respectively.

O’Connor has found himself in fine form for the Queenslanders so far this season, having starred in their recent victories over the Melbourne Rebels, Waratahs, Western Force and Fijian Drua.

As such, the 61-test veteran has earned himself the No 10 jersey in the RugbyPass Super Rugby Pacific Dream Team after the opening month of action, two votes clear of Chiefs pivot Josh Ioane.

Picking the Super Rugby Pacific Dream Team of the Month

Tupou, meanwhile, has only started in two matches this year, and came off the bench against the Force, after succumbing to a back injury prior to his side’s victory over the Waratahs three weeks ago.

Nevertheless, the barnstorming prop has still managed to play his way into the RugbyPass Super Rugby Pacific Dream Team, where he sits more than 130 votes clear of the second-placed Hurricanes prop Tyrel Lomax in the No 3 jersey.

The latest change to the Super Rugby Pacific calendar, which sees the Chiefs take on Moana Pasifika at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday evening, has resulted in an extension of a somewhat unwanted Super Rugby record.

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O’Connor and Tupou aren’t the only non-New Zealanders in the team, as Los Pumas star Pablo Matera, who joined the Crusaders this season, has earned selection at blindside flanker ahead of the second-placed Highlanders star Shannon Frizell.

The remainder of the team, though, is made up of Kiwis, almost all of whom are All Blacks.

Accompanying Tupou in the front row is Crusaders loosehead prop Joe Moody and Chiefs hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho, while Crusaders captain Scott Barrett and Chiefs lock Brodie Retallick partner in the second row.

Chiefs veteran Sam Cane and Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea join Matera in the loose forwards, while Highlanders skipper Aaron Smith pair up with O’Connor in the halves.

The rest of the backline features Blues star Rieko Ioane at centre, and Crusaders duo Sevu Reece and Will Jordan on the right wing and at fullback, respectively.

The only two uncapped test players who have been voted into the RugbyPass Super Rugby Pacific Dream Team at present are Blues second-five Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Crusaders wing Leicester Fainga’anuku.

The door remains open for other players to be voted into the RugbyPass Super Rugby Pacific Dream Team over the coming weeks, so register now to have your say and be in with a chance to win a guest appearance on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.

1. Joe Moody (Crusaders)2. Samisoni Taukei’aho (Chiefs)3. Taniela Tupou (Reds)4. Scott Barrett (Crusaders)5. Brodie Retallick (Chiefs)6. Pablo Matera (Crusaders)7. Sam Cane (Chiefs)8. Ardie Savea (Hurricanes)9. Aaron Smith (Highlanders)10. James O’Connor (Reds)11. Leicester Fainga’anuku (Crusaders)12. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Blues)13. Rieko Ioane (Blues)14. Sevu Reece (Crusaders)15. Will Jordan (Crusaders)