The Hurricanes produced a devastating second-half masterclass to demolish the Highlanders 50–7 at Forsyth Barr Stadium, with Fehi Fineanganofo’s hat-trick and Cam Roigard’s brace extending their winning streak over the Dunedin side to ten matches.
Key moments
6′ – TRY HIGHLANDERS: Slick hands down the left saw Caleb Tangitau slice through a gap before floating a pass wide for Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens to step off his right foot and stride over next to the posts. Reesjan Pasitoa converts. (Highlanders 7–0 Hurricanes)
14′ – TRY HURRICANES: Cam Roigard sold a rude dummy that fooled multiple defenders, slicing through beside the ruck to score right next to the sticks. Ruben Love converts. (Highlanders 7–7 Hurricanes)
21′ – TRY HURRICANES: The Highlanders front row pushed early at the scrum and conceded a free kick. Roigard made an eyes-up play to tap quickly, catching everyone off guard as he dived over to score under the posts. Love converts. (Highlanders 7–14 Hurricanes)
34′ – TRY HURRICANES: Callum Harkin was tipped up in a big tackle, with advantage being played. Ruben Love cashed in with a pinpoint cross-kick to the left wing that landed in the lap of Fehi Fineanganofo 10m out, and he muscled through the Caleb Tangitau tackle to crash over in the corner. Love misses the conversion. (Highlanders 7–19 Hurricanes)
Half-time: Highlanders 7–19 Hurricanes. The Hurricanes took a 12-point lead into the break after a lively opening half. The Highlanders struck first with the crowd roaring early, but costly errors and lapses in concentration hurt them as the visitors dictated terms by the closing stages. Timoci Tavatavanawai was a constant threat with ball in hand, while Jordie Barrett brought physicality in midfield and Warner Dearns was a menace at lineout time.
50′ – TRY HURRICANES: From a steady scrum outside their 22, Ruben Love sliced through in centre field and sent Billy Proctor beyond halfway with a slick offload. Proctor linked with Fineanganofo on the left wing, who popped it back inside for Du’Plessis Kirifi to clean up, and his offload sent Devan Flanders powering over down the left flank. Love converts. (Highlanders 7–26 Hurricanes)
54′ – YELLOW CARD HURRICANES: Xavier Numia shown yellow for repeated scrum penalties after being penalised for pushing on an angle. The referee deemed it to be the third time the Hurricanes had gone early at scrum time.
60′ – YELLOW CARD HIGHLANDERS: Veveni Lasaqa sent to the bin for a dangerous cleanout, connecting with his shoulder to the head of Warner Dearns. The card remained yellow after the off-field review found there wasn’t a high degree of danger.
62′ – TRY HURRICANES: Brad Shields burrowed low before the ball went left for Du’Plessis Kirifi and Asafo Aumua, pumping the legs to within 4m of the line. Billy Proctor spotted space out wide and Ruben Love’s sharp catch and pass sent an unmarked Fineanganofo strolling over in the corner for his second. Love misses the conversion. (Highlanders 7–31 Hurricanes)
66′ – TRY HURRICANES: Bailyn Sullivan threw a massive dummy that fooled everyone in defence, stepping sharply off his left foot to slice straight through and dive over down the flank. Love converts. (Highlanders 7–38 Hurricanes)
70′ – TRY HURRICANES: Vernon Bason found Brad Shields at the lineout before the forwards rumbled forward. Jordie Barrett then caught and passed brilliantly down the blindside, engaging two defenders to send Fineanganofo diving over for his hat-trick in the corner. Love misses the conversion. (Highlanders 7–43 Hurricanes)
80′ – TRY HURRICANES: Ereatara Enari slung the ball wide left off the scrum and Fineanganofo busted past one. Du’Plessis Kirifi fought his way forward before Peter Lakai picked and went at pace, powering between two defenders to reach out and plant it down on the line. Love converts. (Highlanders 7–50 Hurricanes)
Full-time: Highlanders 7–50 Hurricanes
Match report
The Highlanders threatened to spring an upset with a fast start that had the Forsyth Barr faithful dreaming of ending a drought that stretched back to August 2020. When Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens crossed inside six minutes, the home crowd roared and the momentum seemed to be with the hosts.
The talented fullback split defenders Billy Proctor and Devan Flanders during a burst for the line, finishing clinically under the sticks to continue his impressive season. Reesjan Pasitoa added the extras and Te Kamaka Howden set the tone with a strong hit-up from the restart, running at least 15 metres to get his side on the front foot.
But the early setback only served to focus the Hurricanes. Cam Roigard got the visitors on the board eight minutes later with a moment of individual brilliance. The All Blacks halfback spotted a gap beside the ruck, sold an audacious dummy that fooled multiple defenders, and dived over from close range. Love converted and the scores were level.
What followed demonstrated precisely why this Hurricanes side sits atop the Super Rugby Pacific standings. The Highlanders front row pushed early at a scrum and conceded a free kick. Roigard, eyes up and alert, tapped quickly and was never going to be denied, diving over under the posts as the home defence scrambled in vain. It was his sixth try in as many matches against the men in Dunedin.
The Highlanders had their chances. Fineanganofo was stopped a metre short of the try line early on, before Warner Dearns burrowed for the chalk only for hooker Jack Taylor to get low and hold the lock up over the line. Jonah Lowe had a try disallowed following a knock-on from Folau Fakatava — a big point-scoring swing that summed up the hosts’ mounting frustration.
Ruben Love stretched the advantage before the break with a moment of class. Playing his first start of the season at fly-half, Love launched a pinpoint cross-kick that landed perfectly in Fineanganofo’s arms on the left wing. The former All Blacks Sevens flyer attempted to beat Caleb Tangitau with a goose step before powering over in the corner. It was 19–7 at the interval, but Highlanders fans continued to dream of a drought-breaking result.
Then the second half happened, and boy was it brutal.
It took until the 50th minute for the Hurricanes to get sustained possession, but when they did, they produced the try of the night. From a scrum just outside their 22, Love sliced through in midfield and found Proctor beyond halfway. The ball moved through multiple pairs of hands along the left sideline — Proctor to Fineanganofo, inside to Du’Plessis Kirifi, whose offload sent Flanders powering over to cap a stunning 60-metre team try. Commentator Grant Nisbett called it “a try and a half” and few would argue.
Xavier Numia was shown yellow for repeated scrum penalties, but even with a man advantage the Highlanders could not capitalise. Their lineout, disrupted all evening by the impressive Dearns, continued to misfire despite good field position. Then Veveni Lasaqa joined Numia in the sin bin for a dangerous cleanout on Dearns, the card remaining yellow after the off-field review found insufficient danger.
With both teams down a man, the Hurricanes extended their lead through Fineanganofo’s second, the winger collecting in the corner after slick hands from Proctor and Love. The floodgates had well and truly opened.
Bailyn Sullivan made an instant impact off the bench, throwing a massive dummy that fooled the entire defensive line before stepping sharply to score. Fineanganofo completed his hat-trick four minutes later after Barrett’s superb catch-and-pass down the blindside engaged two defenders and sent the winger over untouched. It became a procession, with the visitors piling on points from all over the park.
Peter Lakai added the final try on the siren, powering between two defenders from close range to bring up the half-century and mercifully end the onslaught.
The statistics told the story of total dominance: 140 carries to 75, 11 linebreaks to four. Up front, Dearns caused havoc at lineout time and completely disrupted the Highlanders’ set piece. Barrett brought his trademark physicality in midfield, while Roigard controlled tempo beautifully from the base of the ruck.
For the home side, Tavatavanawai kept fighting and had his moments, but he had little support as the game unravelled around him. Hugh Renton worked hard on return from injury but the hosts were simply outclassed once the Hurricanes found their rhythm.
The result lifts the Hurricanes to four wins from five, firing them clear at the top of the Super Rugby Pacific standings. They head home to Wellington to face the Reds in Round 7, playing with plenty of confidence after delivering their most emphatic performance of the season. The Highlanders drop further behind the playoff pace and now face a must-win trip to Albany to take on Moana Pasifika next weekend, searching for answers after a night that got away from them in a hurry.
Teams
Highlanders: 15 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, 14 Caleb Tangitau, 13 Jonah Lowe, 12 Timoci Tavatavanawai (co-c), 11 Jona Nareki, 10 Reesjan Pasitoa, 9 Folau Fakatava, 8 Hugh Renton (co-c), 7 Lucas Casey, 6 Sean Withy, 5 Te Kamaka Howden, 4 Oliver Haig, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Jack Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Soane Vikena, 17 Josh Bartlett, 18 Sosefo Kautai, 19 Tai Cribb, 20 Veveni Lasaqa, 21 Adam Lennox, 22 Andrew Knewstubb, 23 Tanielu Tele’a.
Hurricanes: 15 Callum Harkin, 14 Josh Moorby, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett (c), 11 Fehi Fineanganofo, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Brayden Iose, 7 Peter Lakai, 6 Devan Flanders, 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Caleb Delany, 3 Pasilio Tosi, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Xavier Numia.
Replacements: 16 Vernon Bason, 17 Siale Lauaki, 18 Tevita Mafileo, 19 Hugo Plummer, 20 Brad Shields, 21 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 22 Ereatara Enari, 23 Bailyn Sullivan.
Match details
Highlanders 7 (Try: Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens; Conversion: Pasitoa 1/1)
Hurricanes 50 (Tries: Roigard 2, Fineanganofo 3, Flanders, Sullivan, Lakai; Conversions: Love 5/8)
Half-time: 7–19
Yellow cards: Xavier Numia (HUR) 54′ – repeated scrum penalties; Veveni Lasaqa (HIG) 60′ – dangerous cleanout
Venue: Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
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