Fehi Fineanganofo moved within one try of the all-time Super Rugby single-season record as the Hurricanes survived a spirited Crusaders fightback to win 38–31 at Hnry Stadium and reclaim top spot on the table, opening a four-point gap on the idle Chiefs with four rounds remaining.
Key moments
8 mins – TRY CRUSADERS: Leicester Fainga’anuku crashed over after a patient 14-phase build from a lineout 35 metres out, with Christian Lio-Willie and Noah Hotham making strong carries. Taha Kemara converted. (Hurricanes 0–7 Crusaders)
21 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Cam Roigard tapped a penalty quickly and the Hurricanes hammered at the line before Du’Plessis Kirifi powered over from close range. Ruben Love converted. (Hurricanes 7–7 Crusaders)
30 mins – PENALTY HURRICANES: Ruben Love slotted a penalty after a scrum infringement by Fletcher Newell. (Hurricanes 10–7 Crusaders)
34 mins – PENALTY CRUSADERS: Taha Kemara levelled from near halfway after Kirifi was penalised for not rolling. (Hurricanes 10–10 Crusaders)
36 mins – TRY HURRICANES: A Love high ball was tipped backwards by Macca Springer, Billy Proctor claimed and found Peter Lakai, who fed Josh Moorby to score. Love converted. (Hurricanes 17–10 Crusaders)
39 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Roigard found Brayden Iose on the left, who chipped infield. Roigard gathered the bounce and scored. Love converted. (Hurricanes 24–10 Crusaders)
Half-time: Hurricanes 24–10 Crusaders. A cagey, kick-heavy opening gave way to a Hurricanes blitz. Two tries in three minutes turned a 10-all contest into a 14-point lead.
46 mins – TRY CRUSADERS: Noah Hotham darted through a gap from 15 metres after the Crusaders capitalised on a lost Hurricanes lineout. Rivez Reihana converted. (Hurricanes 24–17 Crusaders)
53 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Raymond Tuputupu stormed onto a short ball from Roigard to power through. Love converted. (Hurricanes 31–17 Crusaders)
58 mins – TRY CRUSADERS: Reihana sliced through after a decoy run from Dallas McLeod. Reihana converted. (Hurricanes 31–24 Crusaders)
65 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Fineanganofo danced through traffic, found Isaia Walker-Leawere, who offloaded back to score. TMO checked for forward pass but the try stood. Love converted. (Hurricanes 38–24 Crusaders)
77 mins – TRY CRUSADERS: Dom Gardiner powered over from a 5-metre scrum after McNicholl’s intercept set up the position. TMO checked the grounding but the try stood. Reihana converted. (Hurricanes 38–31 Crusaders)
Full-time: Hurricanes 38–31 Crusaders
Match report
The Hurricanes have made a habit of finding different ways to win this season, and Friday night’s derby in the capital was another exercise in doing just enough when it mattered. Clark Laidlaw’s side were brilliant in bursts, sloppy in between, but ultimately too clinical at the key moments for a Crusaders outfit that kept coming back but could never quite land the decisive blow.”
The narrative of the opening 30 minutes was written by two opensides. Leicester Fainga’anuku, continuing his unlikely experiment at number seven, scored the first try of the match in the eighth minute after the Crusaders battered their way through 14 phases from a lineout 35 metres out. The wing-turned-flanker was typically direct, getting low and powering over from close range after Lio-Willie, Hotham and Cahill had softened up the defensive line. Fainga’anuku was equally impressive at the breakdown, winning a pair of turnovers in the first half to justify Rob Penney’s faith in the positional switch.
His opposite number Du’Plessis Kirifi answered in kind. After Roigard tapped a penalty quickly and the Hurricanes hammered at the line through Iose and Tosi, Kirifi picked from the base and drove over to level the scores at 7–7. The battle between the two number sevens was absorbing and physical, as advertised, and set the tone for a contest that never quite settled into any rhythm.
For much of the first half, the match was a curious affair — cagey, kick-heavy and often scrappy. The two sides exchanged 61 kicks in play during the first 40 minutes as they jockeyed for territorial advantage, with neither willing to take risks from deep. Penalties from Love and Kemara left it locked at 10–10 with six minutes remaining in the half, and it felt as though the teams might head to the sheds with little between them.
Then the Hurricanes ignited. Billy Proctor created something from nothing when he claimed a loose Love bomb that Springer had tipped backwards, beat two defenders and found Peter Lakai with an offload. Lakai stormed towards the 22 and fed Moorby, who ran away to score his fourth try in three matches. Three minutes later, Roigard delivered a flat cutout pass to Iose on the left touchline, and the blindside flanker surged downfield before chipping infield with the outside of his right boot. Roigard followed the kick through, gathered the bounce and crossed for a try that owed as much to instinct as design. Two tries in three minutes had transformed a 10–10 stalemate into a 24–10 half-time lead.
The second half was an entirely different match. The Crusaders emerged with intent, and after Tuputupu’s lineout throw sailed over the top of his target, they capitalised ruthlessly. Hotham produced a moment of individual brilliance, spotting Dearns drifting laterally around the fringes, selling a subtle dummy and darting through a gap from 15 metres out. Reihana, introduced at the break for Kemara, added the extras and suddenly it was a seven-point game.
The pattern of the second half became a relentless cycle: the Crusaders would claw their way back, only for the Hurricanes to land a counterpunch. Tuputupu atoned for his earlier lineout wobble by storming onto a short ball from Roigard and powering through a gap to restore the 14-point buffer. When Reihana then sliced clean through after a clever decoy run from McLeod drew the defence, it was back to seven again.
Enter Fineanganofo. After a quiet opening 60 minutes in which the Crusaders had done well to contain him, the Newcastle-bound winger produced the moment of the match from nothing. A sloppy lineout saw Delany tip the ball down untidily, but Fineanganofo gathered, danced through traffic, burst into the 22 and found Walker-Leawere in support. When Reihana tackled Walker-Leawere low, the lock managed to get his offload away back to Fineanganofo, who ran in his 15th try of the season. The score was referred to the TMO for a possible forward pass, but Doleman ruled it was not clearly and obviously forward. The decision drew criticism from Sky Sport analyst Justin Marshall, who was adamant the pass had not gone backwards.
The Crusaders, to their enormous credit, refused to fold. McNicholl intercepted a short pass inside the Hurricanes’ half and fed Springer, whose chip ahead was won by Barrett — only for the Hurricanes centre to be driven back into his own in-goal. From the resulting scrum, Preston found Gardiner crashing around the corner, and the replacement loose forward powered over under the posts with three minutes remaining. Replays suggested Gardiner may have lost the ball in the act of grounding, but the try stood and Reihana’s conversion made it 38–31.
The grandstand finish never quite materialised. Springer broke free and looked to have space on the left edge, but a wayward offload bounced into the hands of a Hurricanes defender. When Havili, in his 150th appearance for the franchise, opted for a cross-field kick on halfway with the siren sounding, Love gathered and thumped the ball into touch to seal the win.
It was a strange way to end a milestone match for Havili, whose kicking proved costly at key moments — he found touch dead twice and kicked out on the full once during a frustrating evening. The Crusaders captain joined an exclusive group that includes Wyatt Crockett, Sam Whitelock and Kieran Read in reaching 150 caps, but will be left to rue what might have been had his side’s finishing matched their effort.
For the Hurricanes, Love’s 50th cap was marked with a five-from-five conversion record and a penalty, while Roigard’s influence — a try, two try assists and constant menace around the fringes — underlined why he remains central to their title ambitions. Fineanganofo now needs just one more try to draw level with Joe Roff and Ben Lam’s record of 16 in a single Super Rugby season, and would already be there had he not gifted a team-mate a score earlier in the campaign.
The Crusaders at least secured a valuable bonus point, which may prove significant given the congestion in the middle of the table. They remain fourth but now face the Blues under the roof at One New Zealand Stadium next Friday, followed by clashes with the Chiefs and a return meeting with the Hurricanes. Their finals hopes are alive, but only just.
Match details
Hurricanes 38 (Tries: Kirifi 21′, Moorby 36′, Roigard 39′, Tuputupu 53′, Fineanganofo 65′; Conversions: Love 5/5; Penalties: Love 1/1)
Crusaders 31 (Tries: Fainga’anuku 8′, Hotham 46′, Reihana 58′, Gardiner 77′; Conversions: Kemara 1/1, Reihana 3/3; Penalties: Kemara 1/1)
Half-time: 24–10
Venue: Hnry Stadium, Wellington
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Fraser Hannon, Dan Moore
TMO: Glenn Newman
Teams
Hurricanes: 15 Callum Harkin, 14 Josh Moorby, 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 Brayden Iose, 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Caleb Delany, 3 Pasilio Tosi, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Xavier Numia.
Replacements: 16 Raymond Tuputupu, 17 Siale Lauaki, 18 Tevita Mafileo, 19 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 20 Brad Shields, 21 Devan Flanders, 22 Ereatara Enari, 23 Jone Rova.
Crusaders: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Macca Springer, 13 Dallas McLeod, 12 David Havili (c), 11 Kurtis MacDonald, 10 Taha Kemara, 9 Noah Hotham, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Tahlor Cahill, 4 Antonio Shalfoon, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 George Bower.
Replacements: 16 George Bell, 17 Jack Sexton, 18 Seb Calder, 19 Jamie Hannah, 20 Dom Gardiner, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Johnny Lee, 23 Rivez Reihana.
What’s next
The Crusaders host the Blues under the roof at One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch next Friday. The Hurricanes will have the opportunity to rest some of their frontline players after a brutal run of fixtures when they travel to face the last-placed Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday.
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