Fehi Fineanganofo scored a hat-trick as the Hurricanes extended their dominance over the Queensland Reds to 11 consecutive victories with a comprehensive 52–14 win at Hnry Stadium.
Key moments
4 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Josh Moorby weaves past multiple defenders on the left and finds Billy Proctor, who dishes to Cameron Roigard to score next to the posts. Ruben Love converts. (Hurricanes 7–0)
7 mins – TRY REDS: Quick response as Louis Werchon and Harry McLaughlin-Phillips combine down the short side. Hunter Paisami and Joe Brial take carries before Jock Campbell dummies into a hole and carries one defender over in the corner. McLaughlin-Phillips converts from the touchline. (Hurricanes 7–7)
15 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Devan Flanders takes the lineout and the ball is swung quickly to Jordie Barrett, who is smashed by Filipo Daugunu but recycles quickly. Roigard fires it wide where Josh Moorby shows good strength to carry one defender over in the corner. Love’s conversion attempt expires on the shot clock. (Hurricanes 12–7)
17 mins – TRY HURRICANES: The Hurricanes are lethal on the turnover. Fraser McReight spills an offload as the rebound falls into the arms of Flanders, who sprints clear and dishes to Fehi Fineanganofo on his left shoulder. The winger streaks away to score. Love converts. (Hurricanes 19–7)
20 mins: Tevita Mafileo leaves the field for an HIA. Pasilio Tosi on in his place.
28 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Proctor takes the dropout and weaves inside the 22m. Love swings it right to Barrett, who fires a pinpoint cutout pass to Bailyn Sullivan, who takes it on the run and cruises away to score in the corner. Love’s conversion drifts wide. (Hurricanes 24–7)
34 mins – TRY DENIED: Barrett is ruled out for a try after Proctor was caught marginally offside from a deflected McLaughlin-Phillips grubber. The Reds escape.
38 mins – TRY REDS: The Reds claim the lineout as Seru Uru drops it to Werchon, who fires a pass to Paisami. He offloads in contact to Isaac Henry, who juggles and regathers before bursting through to score next to the posts. McLaughlin-Phillips converts. (Hurricanes 24–14)
Half-time: Hurricanes 24–14. The Hurricanes scored four tries to two in a free-flowing first half. Roigard was at his brilliant best, while Fineanganofo took his season tally to seven with a try off turnover. The Reds showed fight through Campbell and Henry but errors cost them dearly. Harry Wilson (Reds) and Devan Flanders (Hurricanes) failed HIAs and would not return.
44 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Du’Plessis Kirifi streams through after the Reds tap back the lineout. He flicks an offload to Asafo Aumua, who storms towards the 5m line and fires an audacious flick pass back infield to Warner Dearns, who carries one defender several metres to score out wide. Love converts. (Hurricanes 31–14)
46 mins – TRY BOMBED: Kirifi makes another clean break but his pass is knocked on by Roigard with the line open in front of him.
52 mins – TRY HURRICANES: A picture-perfect set play from the lineout as Peter Lakai engineers a brilliant short-side raid, running across field to draw in Brial before flicking inside to Fineanganofo, who powers through the hole to score out wide. Love converts. (Hurricanes 38–14)
55 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Fineanganofo completes his hat-trick! Paisami spills it in the midfield and McReight’s short pass down the blindside is intercepted by Fineanganofo, who streaks 60m untouched. Love converts. (Hurricanes 45–14)
62 mins: Tom Lynagh makes his first appearance of 2026, replacing McLaughlin-Phillips.
74 mins – TRY HURRICANES: The Hurricanes bring up the half-century via the rolling maul, with Vernon Bason driven over to the left of the posts. Love converts. (Hurricanes 52–14)
Full-time: Hurricanes 52–14 Reds
Full match report to follow.
The Hurricanes’ electric backline tore the Queensland Reds apart in a 52–14 rout at Hnry Stadium on Saturday, with winger Fehi Fineanganofo bagging his second straight hat-trick to continue a breakout campaign that has made him the hottest finisher in Super Rugby Pacific.
Fineanganofo, bound for the Newcastle Red Bulls in 2027 and now out of All Blacks contention, outscored the opposition on his own. The 23-year-old took his season tally to nine tries — level with the Brumbies’ Charlie Cale atop the competition charts — with six coming in his past two matches. For a Reds side that arrived on a four-match winning streak, it was a brutal reminder of the step up required to beat New Zealand’s best. Queensland remain winless in Wellington since 1998.
The Hurricanes looked in the mood from the opening whistle, with Fineanganofo leaping high to claim Ruben Love’s kickoff and putting the hosts on the attack immediately. Within four minutes Cameron Roigard had struck, finishing off a sweeping backline move after Josh Moorby burst through the Reds’ defensive line and found Billy Proctor, who fed the halfback to score his third try in as many games.
Jock Campbell drew the Reds level with a well-worked try in the seventh minute, dummying into a hole and carrying one defender over the line after quick hands from Harry McLaughlin-Phillips. But the response was emphatic. Moorby powered over in the corner three minutes later before Fineanganofo struck for the first time in the 18th minute, finishing a sweeping move sparked by Devan Flanders straight off the restart after a Fraser McReight handling error.
Jordie Barrett’s pinpoint cutout pass sent Bailyn Sullivan cruising away to score in the 28th minute, though the Hurricanes should have been further ahead. Barrett was denied what appeared a certain try after Proctor was ruled marginally offside when he swooped on a deflected grubber and raced 50 metres to set up his co-captain. The 14-point swing kept the Reds alive, and Isaac Henry made it count when he juggled and regathered Hunter Paisami’s offload to score just before half-time.
The second half was one-way traffic. Du’Plessis Kirifi, making his first start of the season after recovering from a calf injury, was instrumental at the breakdown and on attack. His clean break from a tapped-back lineout sparked a frenzied passage of play, with Asafo Aumua producing an audacious flick pass back infield as he was bundled into touch. Warner Dearns collected and powered over to make it 31–14.
Roigard might have had a second try, but twice he knocked on with the line open — first when Kirifi’s pass hit him behind, then when another break left him unmarked. The halfback’s day was summed up by those moments, though by then the result was beyond doubt.
Fineanganofo sealed the contest with two tries in quick succession. Peter Lakai’s no-look pass from the back of a maul sent him bursting through a hole for his second, before he intercepted McReight’s short pass down the blindside and streaked 60 metres untouched to complete the treble. Vernon Bason rounded off the scoring from a rolling maul with five minutes remaining, bringing up the Hurricanes’ fourth 50-point haul of the season and continuing a memorable month for his family — his sister Taufa earned her maiden Black Ferns call-up earlier this week.
The result pushed the Hurricanes further clear at the top of the ladder and extended their dominance over the Reds to 11 consecutive victories. For incoming Wallabies coach Les Kiss, whose side were kept scoreless in the second half, it was a chastening afternoon. Both Harry Wilson and Devan Flanders failed HIAs and did not return, while Tom Lynagh was unable to make an impact in his first appearance of 2026 after replacing McLaughlin-Phillips with 18 minutes remaining.
A brutal run of fixtures awaits the Hurricanes on the other side of next weekend’s bye, with the Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders and Brumbies all still to come. For now, though, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate if you are a Hurricane.
What they said
Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw was pleased with how his side finished the block before the bye, particularly the second-half defence. He praised the physicality through the middle of the field and said it was the most pleasing aspect of the performance.
Reds coach Les Kiss acknowledged his side had been beaten by the best team in the competition. He said the Hurricanes played like the best team in the comp and admitted his side were not as good as they could have been, but backed them to bounce back quickly.
What’s next
The Hurricanes have a bye in Round 8 before a marquee clash with the Blues in Wellington in Round 9. The Reds host the Western Force at Suncorp Stadium next Saturday.
Teams
Hurricanes: 15 Josh Moorby, 14 Bailyn Sullivan, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett (co-c), 11 Fehi Fineanganofo, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi (co-c), 6 Devan Flanders, 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Caleb Delany, 3 Tevita Mafileo, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Xavier Numia.
Replacements: 16 Vernon Bason, 17 Siale Lauaki, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 20 Brayden Iose, 21 Ereatara Enari, 22 Lucas Cashmore, 23 Jone Rova.
Reds: 15 Jock Campbell, 14 Filipo Daugunu, 13 Isaac Henry, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Tim Ryan, 10 Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, 9 Louis Werchon, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Fraser McReight (c), 6 Joe Brial, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Seru Uru, 3 Nick Bloomfield, 2 Josh Nasser, 1 Aidan Ross.
Replacements: 16 Richie Asiata, 17 George Blake, 18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 19 Hamish Muller, 20 Vaiuta Latu, 21 Kalani Thomas, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Treyvon Pritchard.
Match details
Hurricanes 52 (Tries: Roigard, Moorby, Fineanganofo 3, Sullivan, Dearns, Bason; Conversions: Love 6/8)
Reds 14 (Tries: Campbell, Henry; Conversions: McLaughlin-Phillips 2/2)
Half-time: 24–14
Venue: Hnry Stadium, Wellington
Referee: Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Paul Williams, Mike Winter
TMO: Aaron Paterson
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