ACT Brumbies prop James Slipper yesterday became the most-capped Australian in Super Rugby history when he played in his 178th match.
Slipper reached the milestone when the Brumbies kicked off their Round 7 home match against the New South Wales Waratahs, with the 34-year-old having been welcomed warmly onto the field by the Canberra crowd.
The Brumbies won 40-16.
Photo: AP
It lifted the loosehead prop one match ahead of former Wallabies hooker Stephen Moore and into fifth place on the all-time list of Super Rugby’s most enduring players.
Former Canterbury Crusaders prop Wyatt Crockett leads the way on 202 matches, followed by three other All Blacks — Aaron Smith (185), Liam Messam (182) and Sam Whitelock (181).
Slipper told a mid-week news conference that Moore had been in contact to congratulate him.
“Just wishing me all the best. He’s a respected player so you get a text from him, someone I’ve played a lot of rugby with, it’s always nice,” Slipper said of former Wallabies captain Moore, who retired in 2017. “It’s a nice feeling to be up there in the company of players like him.”
Slipper’s career began with the Reds in 2010 and he played 104 matches there until 2018.
He shifted to the Brumbies the following year and said the stint in Canberra had given his career a second wind.
In Hamilton, the Waikato Chiefs cantered over for 10 tries in a 68-12 drubbing of Moana Pasifika — the most lop-sided scoreline in more than a year.
Winger Emoni Narawa bagged a hat-trick of tries, while fly-half Damian McKenzie landed nine of his 10 conversion attempts.
The winning margin was the highest in the competition since the Wellington Hurricanes hammered Moana Pasifika 59-0 in Round 5 last year.
The widest winning margin in Super Rugby history is the Bulls 92-3 thumping of the Queensland Reds on May 5, 2007.
The visitors struggled to contain the creativity of All Blacks playmaker McKenzie, and the athleticism of Narawa and Etene Nanai-Seturo, who produced a sparkling display at fullback in his 50th Super Rugby match.
“Coming off last week’s performance [a loss to the Canterbury Crusaders], the coaches put the hard word on us,” said Nanai-Seturo, who was among the try-scorers. “We had to dominate up front and we did that, so the backs got to do their thing out wide.”
On Friday, the Auckland Blues defeated the Western Force 50-3 and the Melbourne Rebels downed the Fijian Drua 41-20.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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