Super Rugby Pacific final: Hurricanes play for departing mates Warner Dearns, Devan Flanders, Isaia Walker-Leawere
Friday, 19 June 2026
What: Super Rugby Pacific final, Hurricanes v Chiefs. Where: Hnry Stadium, Wellington. When: 7.05pm Saturday, Sky Sport 1.
The Hurricanes’ end of season awards are a night for celebration, but this time the tears flowed.
Usually held when playing commitments are over, the Hurricanes changed it up and got together before the Super Rugby Pacific knockout rounds started - to honour their standouts of 2026 and farewell their departing mates.
Loose forward Devan Flanders (Japan) and lock Isaia Walker-Leawere (Italy) will start Saturday night’s final against the Chiefs in their farewell appearances, having been centre of attention earlier in the month.
Read More:
All Blacks star ruled out for Chiefs, Hurricanes bulk up for sold out final
Hurricanes say ‘bring it on’ to Chiefs fans as final sells out in minutes
‘Confidence is definitely back’: The forgotten AB timing his run to perfection
All Blacks No 10 jersey on line as Love meets McKenzie in fitting finale
Said assistant coach Cory Jane of that awards night: “The guys got up - Devan, Izzy - and spoke about leaving and a few of them cried. You saw what this club means to them, what the boys mean to them and the emotions that are going through them having to leave.
“It’d be awesome for the boys to put on a performance and farewell those guys, and also say they are champions. They’ve put a lot of time, a lot of games and a lot of hurt into this jersey.”
That hurt relates to seven defeats in knockout matches (including four semifinals) since the Hurricanes’ solitary title in 2016, which Jane played in when they beat the Lions 20-3 in the decider in Wellington. Bench forward Brad Shields is the only returnee from that trophy-clutching night in Saturday’s 23, in their first final since (also their first home sellout since).
Two years ago the Chiefs delivered some capital punishment against the top-seeded Hurricanes with a 30-19 upset in the semifinal, before losing to the Crusaders in the decider.
“When you look through our squad there’s a lot of guys who’ve played a lot of games and been around and understood a lot of that hurt and why it happened,” Jane said.
“The Chiefs on the other hand have been here three times before (in the final) and didn’t get the job done so they’ll be excited about this weekend and trying to make it fourth time lucky. They’ll have guys who were in the final and will try and draw on what went wrong and why.”
With Flanders returning from two weeks out with concussion for his 70th Hurricanes match, and Walker-Leawere in for his 93rd due to Caleb Delany’s concussion misfortune, the hosts have 15 players with 50-plus caps.
Then there’s lock Warner Dearns, the giant son of former Silver Fern Tanya Dearns who grew up dreaming of being a Hurricane before building a stellar career with Toshiba in Japan after the family moved there. He will also farewell his new mates after his one-season contract to rejoin the Japan national team, having said he may return but not for a few years.
Dearns proved one of the best recruits in the Hurricanes’ 30-year history, a standout along with halfback Cam Roigard, and will again be a key cog on Saturday in a tight five which has rarely been bettered.
Said Jane: “He (Dearns) came over to prove a point to himself and his family, teams that he’s played in, and to us. He’s played awesome this year.
“It’s funny when he came in he was real quiet, now he tries to throw around jokes… he’s been awesome, he understands international rugby and is absolutely huge, he’s fitted in and is a big reason why our lineout defence is so good.”
Flanders was unsure whether he’d even make a farewell final after being flattened by a high shot from Highlanders prop Daniel Lienert-Brown in the final regular season game.
He was still feeling concussion symptoms after he was named to play the semifinal against the Blues, so was withdrawn, and was finally cleared after tests in Auckland on Monday.
He will reunite with Du’Plessis Kirifi and Peter Lakai in a dynamic loose trio up against the visitors’ powerhouses Samipeni Finau, Luke Jacobson and Simon Parker.
Flanders said it was “the most difficult decision of my life” to sign in Japan, and victory would be the perfect send-off.
“It couldn’t be any better, especially with this group of boys. The memories that we’ve made, and the challenges that we’ve been through in the last few years, and being my last game it’d be awesome to go off with a win.”