Hurricanes winger Fehi Fineanganofo shows All Blacks credentials before Crusaders showdown as campaign to keep him grows

Monday, 27 April 2026

ANALYSIS: Now we’re talking.

The brilliant Super Round wasn’t just a success in its own right, it has set up a game between the Hurricanes and Crusaders in Wellington on Friday that is rich in storylines.

Leicester Fainga’anuku’s encouraging start in the No 7 jersey against the Waratahs on Friday is another step towards the All Blacks getting their own hybrid player.

Can Fainga’anuku repeat that against the high-quality Hurricanes loose forwards?

Read more:

• Interim NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Lancaster on Super Rugby, All Blacks and the high-performance director role

• Black Ferns complete Pacific Four clean sweep with runaway victory over Wallaroos

• Super Rugby Pacific: Blues snatch golden-point thriller to outlast Queensland Reds

• Super Rugby Pacific: Fehi Fineanganofo shows New Zealand Rugby what they will miss in rampant Hurricanes’ win

But the big talking point from the weekend has to be four-try Hurricanes winger Fehi Fineanganofo.

Keeping Fineanganofo in New Zealand - and getting him out of his Newcastle deal - has gone from a topic of conversation among Hurricanes fans to a national cause.

Free Fehi has a nice ring to it.

The 23-year-old with the monster left-foot step and 14 tries to his name already this season is the hottest commodity in Super Rugby Pacific and on track for an All Blacks call-up - if Dave Rennie and New Zealand Rugby can make him stay.

Senior All Blacks and Hurricanes midfielder Jordie Barrett certainly made his feelings clear on Fineanganofo after their 45-12 win against the Brumbies.

'He gets the odd jab in the ribs and an arm around him to stay,“ Barrett said. ”But that's ultimately up to him.

“As a player in New Zealand, we'd love to have him. Pure and simple. But he's made a decision for himself and his family, but between now and June, who knows. We'd love to have him.'

The big sticking point is his two-year deal with the Newcastle Red Bulls in the UK.

But contracts are watertight until they are not. The Post knows of one current Super Rugby player who was signed, sealed and delivered to a Major League Rugby team in the United States - and he relayed this to his Super Rugby suitors when they first chased him.

However, the Super Rugby club wouldn’t take no for an answer and suddenly the Major League Rugby contract was no more, replaced by a Super Rugby deal.

Where there is a will there is a way when it comes to contracts.

Perhaps Rennie sees a few flaws in Fineanganofo and is happy with his current options out wide.

The Crusaders will certainly ask a few more questions of him than the Brumbies did in Christchurch.

But Fineanganofo is so electric and so powerful that Rennie will surely be keen for him to stick around.

He’s also getting well coached at the Hurricanes, so Rennie would be getting a player who is already on the right track.

But he also has some attributes that aren’t coachable - the pace and the power and that ability to sharply change direction without losing any speed.

It’s a recipe that would look good in a black jersey, if and when NZ Rugby can make it happen.