Super Rugby Pacific wrap: In-form Chiefs steel for shot at high-flying Hurricanes in Hamilton

Monday, 13 April 2026

Kyren Taumoefolau goes in for one of the Chiefs’ 10 tries in their rout of Moana Pasifika in Rotorua on Saturday.

It may be by good fortune rather than good design, but Super Rugby Pacific officials can back-slap themselves silly that they have in the end got their tough middle month of competition just perfect.

After an Easter weekend that was nothing short of diabolical on the scheduling front (just three games, and no Kiwi derbies), the end of daylight savings has far from dimmed the brightness, and instead put it up in lights, thanks to two top-of-the-table clashes on successive Saturday nights.

Throw in the return of Super Round to mark the much-anticipated opening of the new One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch on Anzac weekend, and all of a sudden the traditionally tricky April sell has plenty about it, before we hit the five-round May runway to the playoffs.

On the back of the Hurricanes continuing their high-flying start to the season by putting away the Blues 42-19 in Wellington, the stage is now set for a humdinger in Hamilton, as the back-in-form, now second-ranked Chiefs steel for their shot at halting the hot-shots.

Having maintained competition favouritism at the TAB throughout the first half of the regular season, the Chiefs, despite their 62-17 tearing up of Moana Pasifika in Rotorua, have now officially lost their sole grip on that mantle, with them and the Hurricanes now sitting on equal-footing in the betting books ($2.75), well ahead of the Crusaders ($6.50) and Blues ($7.50).

The Hurricanes continued their high-flying start to the season by dismantling the Blues in Wellington on Saturday night.

“They’re in form and they’ll be pretty confident with what they’ve put together so far in the season, no doubt,” Chiefs coach Jono Gibbes noted, even before Clark Laidlaw’s outfit marched to their latest triumph.

“For us, we actually haven’t talked about the ladder, we don’t talk like that, we just talk about what we learn, where we can take our game to a different level, what parts we can work on and focus on.

“Next week’s a new challenge and a big challenge, but we’ll start the process all over again on Monday and follow the formula that we’ve used all season.”

The Chiefs will be confident they have the recipe, though, in what will be the teams’ only meeting in the regular season, and one which could prove defining for not only ladder position but psychological advantage come playoff time.

On the back of an underwhelming fortnight across the ditch, they have now posted impressive back-to-back bonus-point wins, backing up their 42-14 home victory over the Waratahs with another mauling (not literally) of Moana, where they again showed off their lethal attacking prowess, in front of a sparse 8795 punters in a game which had been shifted from Tonga to their home territory.

With 287 points and 43 tries to their name, only the Hurricanes have scored more (their 306 and 47 having even come in one fewer game), so it sets the stage for a fascinating battle of the respective attacks this weekend.

Just seven days on from his intriguing head-to-head with Beauden Barrett, first-five Ruben Love will get another tasty test against Damian McKenzie, fresh off the latter’s history-making effort of becoming the Chiefs’ top try-scorer, when he surpassed Sitiveni Sivivatu’s 42, with his 43rd and 44th five-pointers in Rotorua.

“I was lucky enough to see a few of Siti’s tries, back in our vintage,” Gibbes noted.

“Damian did it in his own way, but it’s a reflection of his prowess, his influence, his skillset, longevity as well. So it’s a nice milestone and one that he should be really proud of.

A dejected Beauden Barrett sums up the Blues’ emotions in their loss in the capital.

“It’s something that we can all share in, there’s a lot of work by the forwards and all sorts of things like that,” he also quipped, adding that his classy first-five might now have a few extra duties on his plate to mark the occasion.

“Shout a coffee cart for the boys on Monday, I reckon. And sausage rolls for the coaches.”

Blues bruised

Blues coach Vern Cotter doesn’t usually leave much room for grey area in his dialogue, and sure enough, on the back of the loss to the Hurricanes, he succinctly declared his team “got a lesson in rugby”.

The Crusaders have now lost both matches without Will Jordan this season.

“We lost touch of our game a couple of times, and you can’t do that against these boys, they’re too good. So we’re back to having a good look at ourselves.”

As Cotter went on to point out, his side’s typically robust defence was good for much of the game, but ended up getting too ragged and found out in conceding six tries, in a contest he felt, after four wins on the bounce, was a good yardstick of where they were really at.

With a now 5-3 record, the Auckland outfit brace for a quick turnaround against the Highlanders at Eden Park on Friday night, a fixture in which they are expecting to be able to inject some hard-nosed, experienced campaigners back in from the casualty ward.

Where there’s not a Will…

Is it more than a coincidence that the two games Will Jordan has missed for the Crusaders this year have seen the defending champs fall to losses, in fixtures they went into as favourites?

Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph had reason to feel aggrieved after a couple of contentious calls in his side’s loss to the Brumbies.

After being outgunned by the Blues in round four when Jordan was at his brother’s wedding, this latest calf problem has raised the question once more, after the red and blacks fell to a 31-26 loss to the Reds in Brisbane, their first defeat there since the 2011 final.

The silky All Blacks fullback’s presence is clearly so massive for Rob Penney’s outfit, who of course endured their horror 2024 season when he was sidelined through shoulder surgery.

They did, mind you, go 3-0 without Jordan late in last year’s regular season (away to the Waratahs and Brumbies, and home to the Highlanders) when he had a knee injury.

But, with Jordan also missing his side’s second leg in Australia this weekend, it makes the matchup against the Force in Perth all the more intriguing, for a side now 4-4 and in sixth spot on the table.

Highlanders’ harsh calls

The less said about the ugly 14-10 Brumbies win over the Highlanders in Dunedin the better, however a couple of points stand out.

It’s usually hard to argue with Ben O’Keeffe’s decisions on a footy field, but Highlanders fans had reason to cry foul over not only Henry Bell’s 72nd minute yellow card, where Nick Frost seemingly ran into the hooker’s head, but also the no foul-play call when Blake Schoupp supposedly wrapped and didn’t flip over Mitch Dunshea.

“Those sort of situations, when the games are so close, become a real telling moment,” Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph lamented afterwards.

The Landers, already down key weapons Fabian Holland and Dylan Pledger for the season, don’t have enough at their disposal to be on the wrong end of calls and still come out on the winning side.

Indeed, they were also their own worst enemies with regard to a shambolic lineout (9/15), which continues to be a massive problem, sitting second-worst to only the Fijian Drua at 78.4%.

The Brumbies, meanwhile, can be labelled the ‘Kiwi killers’, having now gone 4-0 against New Zealand sides, and with Stephen Larkham’s men gunning for a clean sweep when they face the Hurricanes on neutral turf in Super Round.

Super Rugby Pacific, Rd 9

At Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin: Brumbies 14 (Ryan Lonergan, Luke Reimer tries; Lonergan 2 con) Highlanders 10 (Jona Nareki try; Cameron Millar con, pen). HT: 7-3.

At Churchill Park, Lautoka: Fijian Drua 24 (Penaia Cakobau, Isikeli Rabitu, Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, Isikeli Basiyalo tries; Armstrong-Ravula 2 con) Force 22 (Misinale Epenisa, Dylan Pietsch, Jeremy Williams, Will Harris tries; Ben Donaldson con). HT: 19-7.

At Rotorua International Stadium: Chiefs 62 (Quinn Tupaea 2, Kyren Taumoefolau 2, Damian McKenzie 2, Tyrone Thompson 2, Samipeni Finau, Josh Jacomb tries; McKenzie 6 con) Moana Pasifika 17 (Solomon Alaimalo, Abraham Pole, Miracle Faiilagi tries; Patrick Pellegrini con). HT: 28-0.

At Hnry Stadium, Wellington: Hurricanes 42 (Callum Harkin 2, Billy Proctor, Fehi Fineanganofo, Asafo Aumua, Cam Roigard tries; Ruben Love 6 con) Blues 19 (AJ Lam, Caleb Clarke, Malachi Wrampling tries; Beauden Barrett 2 con). HT: 21-12.

At Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane: Reds 31 (Fraser McReight, Carter Gordon, Tim Ryan, Filipo Daugunu, Louis Werchon tries; Jock Campbell 2 con, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips con) Crusaders 26 (Chay Fihaki 2, Christian Lio-Willie, George Bell tries; Taha Kemara con, Rivez Reihana 2 con). HT: 14-12.

Points (games played): Hurricanes 30 (7), Chiefs 27 (8), Blues 25 (8), Brumbies 24 (8), Reds 22 (8), Crusaders 20 (8), Highlanders 15 (8), Waratahs 14 (7), Fijian Drua 12 (8), Force 10 (8), Moana Pasifika 10 (8).