Super Rugby Pacific: Red-hot Hurricanes dominate Blues with impressive bonus-point victory
Saturday, 11 April 2026
At Hnry Stadium, Wellington: Hurricanes 42 (Callum Harkin 2 tries 5min, 65min, Billy Proctor try 14min, Fehi Fineanganofo try 34min, Asofa Aumua try 47min, Cam Roigard try 70min; Ruben Love 6 cons), Blues 19 (AJ Lam try 22min, Caleb Clarke try 27min, Malachi Wrampling try 54min; Beauden Barrett 2 cons). HT: 21-12.
Yellow cards: Fehi Fineanganofo (Hurricanes) 53min; Isaia Walker-Leawere (Hurricanes) 77min.
What creampuff schedule? What question marks? The pacesetting Hurricanes put the doubts over their soft Super Rugby draw to bed with a statement victory over the Blues in the capital on Saturday night.
Clark Laidlaw’s men ran in six tries to three in a free-flowing and entertaining clash at the Cake Tin to emphatically retain their spot atop the Super Rugby Pacific standings, improving to 6-1, and 30 competition points with their fifth victory on the bounce.
Sure, they hadn’t faced one of the true contenders until now in a schedule frontloaded with patsies. But that did not mean they were not the real deal, and four times past the 50-point mark in their five previous wins strongly hinted at that.
A dominant Saturday night 42-19 victory over a quality Blues outfit, now 5-3, and anchored on 25 points, was all the confirmation anyone could desire. Laidlaw’s Canes aren’t just a very, very good rugby team, but, just past the halfway mark of this competition, they are now very much the side everyone is chasing.
The Canes even survived a potentially awkward second-half yellow card for form wing Fehi Fineanganofo, and barely missed a beat as they kept the Blues comfortably at bay with another exhilarating attacking effort to snap a three-game losing skid at their rivals’ hands.
They were led by another outstanding effort from form halfback Cam Roigard, close to the best player in the competition thus far, who scored a bullocking try, ran into space when it was on, kicked with aplomb and put that swift backline away when he needed to.
Billy Proctor, either with his passing or on the charge, was outstanding at centre, and fullback Callum Harkin, with two well-taken tries, first five Ruben Love, continuing his rapid rise, and powerhouse wing Fineanganofo, who just cannot stop crossing the line, all weighed in splendidly.
Up front big lock Warner Dearns, snaffling two more against the throw, and hooker Asofo Aumua were the standouts, though loosies Devan Flanders and Peter Lakai also got through a ton of work in another excellent shift from the Canes forwards.
Doubts? Schmoubts.
The Blues should take a lot from this. They were a distant second because they simply were not able to put any sort of pressure on a side playing with a heap of confidence. They have some experienced and capable sorts due back soon off the injury-list, and on the evidence of this, they need them.
Anton Segner toiled hard for the Blues up front, and there were intermittent bright moments for their likely backs, such as Caleb Clarke and AJ Lam, but they just can’t give up the amount of gilt-edged possession and territory to opponents as lethal as these Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes were good for their 21-12 halftime advantage after a promising first 40 in which they very much flexed their attacking firepower and ability to gupta gear with ball in hand.
It was all the home side through the opening quarter, with the Canes settling into an ominous early rhythm as they dominated territory, possession and the scoreboard with two quick tries for the 14-0 lead.
Fullback Harkin struck first, inside five minutes, when a couple of wide passes put him into enough space to slip outside Codemeru Vai for the finish, and Proctor doubled the score at the quarter-hour mark after Aumua’s charge came up just short and quick ball put the centre over in Anton Segner’s tackle.
The Blues at least had a response in them through the middle stages of the half, finally getting their hands on some ball, and putting Lam (via an outstanding kick from Beauden Barrett) and Clarke (for his seventh try of the season) over for five-pointers that got them back to 14-12 approaching the half-hour mark.
But it was the Canes who capped a productive spell in style when they saw in-form Fineanganofo jink over for his 10th try of the season, and a 21-12 halftime advantage, with an outstanding strike. It started with a dazzling Roigard run from scrum and was finished when the wing showed some nice feet and strength to finish off Proctor’s wide pass.
The Blues, who lost prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi to a head knock halfway through the first spell, made plenty of tackles through the opening spell, but still shipped three tries. The lesson was clear: you allow go-forward ball to these Hurricanes at your peril.
It was the Canes who struck first in the second spell, hooker Aumua crashing over to finish a powerful lineout drive for the 28-12 lead, before that yellow card to Fineanganofo and a Malachi Wrampling put the match back in the balance, at 28-19.
The Canes, though, did not blink, Harkin across for his second score, off a handy ricochet, and Roigard finishing the show with a powerful effort off the tap and go to send the home faithful off into the night with something to truly celebrate.