The Hurricanes will host their first Grand Final in a decade after a devastating second-half blitz destroyed the Blues 57–21 at Hnry Stadium, with nine tries powering the top-ranked side into next weekend’s Super Rugby Pacific decider against the Chiefs in Wellington.
- Hurricanes reach their first Grand Final since their lone Super Rugby title in 2016
- Second-half blitz of three tries in 10 minutes broke open a competitive contest after the Blues led for much of the first half
- Hurricanes became the first team to score 100 tries in a Super Rugby season
- Du’Plessis Kirifi outstanding at the breakdown; Cam Roigard a constant threat with ball in hand
- Blues lost AJ Lam and Caleb Clarke to failed HIAs in the first half; Finlay Christie also failed an HIA
- End of Vern Cotter’s tenure as Blues head coach; Hurricanes assistant Jason Holland takes over next season
- Fehi Fineanganofo largely a spectator – stays on 16 tries for the season, tied with the all-time record
Key moments
3 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Cam Roigard burst through midfield after a quick tap penalty and found Callum Harkin surging into the 22. The Hurricanes earned a penalty advantage and hammered at the line before Jordie Barrett sliced through on the short side to open the scoring. Ruben Love missed the sideline conversion. (Hurricanes 5–0)
7 mins – TRY BLUES: Slick hands on the left from Cole Forbes and AJ Lam got the ball to Caleb Clarke, who surged towards the line on an angled run. He was stopped just short, but the ball came wide of the ruck to Patrick Tuipulotu, who burst through a tackle to score. Beauden Barrett converted. (Hurricanes 5–7)
12 mins – HIA: AJ Lam failed his head injury assessment and was replaced by Pita Ahki.
14 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Warner Dearns won the lineout in the middle and the Hurricanes set up a perfectly formed driving maul. The Blues had no answer, and Du’Plessis Kirifi claimed the try from the back. Love converted. (Hurricanes 12–7)
17 mins – HIA: Caleb Clarke also failed his HIA. Payton Spencer remained on the field as his replacement.
26 mins – TRY BLUES: The Blues came right outside the 22, with Spencer spying space in behind on the edge. Forbes charged through to regather, had the patience to stop, prop, and pop it back to Spencer on the inside for a simple finish. Barrett converted. (Hurricanes 12–14)
31 mins – TRY HURRICANES: The Hurricanes stayed patient in attack, thumping their way towards the posts and earning a penalty advantage in front. Xavier Numia picked and burst around the fringes, reaching out to plant under the bar. Love converted. (Hurricanes 19–14)
Half-time: Hurricanes 19–14 Blues. A much closer contest than many predicted, with the game swinging back and forth as the sides traded tries. The Blues were combative defensively and kept the Hurricanes from tearing them apart, despite losing both Lam and Clarke to HIAs. Roigard was the liveliest on attack for the home side, but the Blues stayed in touch through well-taken tries from Tuipulotu and Spencer.
HT – HIA: Caleb Delany failed his HIA at the break and was replaced by Isaia Walker-Leawere.
43 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Love slid a grubber through on the left looking for Fineanganofo, but Spencer got there first. The Hurricanes countered, however, and Peter Lakai snatched the loose ball before popping to Roigard, who burst away to score near the left corner. Love missed the conversion. (Hurricanes 24–14)
47 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Walker-Leawere won the restart, and Roigard’s box kick wasn’t gathered by the Blues. Moorby kicked ahead and Barrett had to take it in-goal for a 5m scrum. Off the scrum, the Hurricanes shifted left, with Moorby running a tough line and crashing through to score – the Hurricanes’ 100th try of the season. Love converted. (Hurricanes 31–14)
51 mins – SUBSTITUTION: Ruben Love replaced by Kini Naholo. Jordie Barrett takes over goal-kicking duties.
53 mins – TRY HURRICANES: A cross kick on the back of a turnover found Naholo, who leapt to gather and pass back infield in one motion. The pass found Asafo Aumua on the 22, and he went barrelling down the touchline before crashing through Stephen Perofeta’s contact to score. Jordie Barrett converted. (Hurricanes 38–14)
65 mins – TRY HURRICANES: After Tyrel Lomax went close near the right post, Ereatara Enari nipped around the fringes and dived in for the finish. Jordie Barrett converted. (Hurricanes 45–14)
71 mins – TRY HURRICANES: Enari shaped for a box kick but spotted something on the short side with Jordie Barrett, who fed Naholo. He powered through a front-on tackle from Forbes and burst past halfway. Brayden Iose chimed in, found Enari with an offload into the 22, and Enari got it back to Naholo, who pushed away from Josh Beehre to finish in the corner. Jordie Barrett converted from the left. (Hurricanes 52–14)
75 mins – TRY BLUES: Raymond Tuputupu overthrew the lineout, and Eli Oudenryn hacked it ahead from 35 metres out. He showed great speed, bursting past the covering Enari to slide, gather and score. Barrett converted. (Hurricanes 52–21)
79 mins – TRY HURRICANES: A poor pass from Perofeta didn’t find its target, and Jone Rova scooped up the loose ball before popping a flick offload. Walker-Leawere burst away, and Moorby was there in support to finish despite a stumble. Jordie Barrett missed the conversion from wide. (Hurricanes 57–21)
Full-time: Hurricanes 57–21 Blues
Match report
For a team that hadn’t won a play-off match since 2016, the Hurricanes showed remarkably few nerves on a night when the stakes could not have been higher. They scored inside three minutes, weathered an unexpectedly fierce first-half challenge from the Blues, and then dismantled them with a second-half performance of ruthless precision to reach their first Grand Final in a decade.
The contest began at a frenetic pace. Roigard, who was a threat every time he touched the ball, shook off a mid-air tackle from Beauden Barrett near halfway and caught both teams off guard with a quick tap penalty. He burst through midfield, found Harkin surging into the 22, and within moments Jordie Barrett had sliced through on the short side to open the scoring.
The Blues, however, refused to buckle. A darting run from Clarke split the Hurricanes defence, and captain Tuipulotu crashed over off a neat Christie pass to put the visitors in front after Barrett’s conversion. It was a statement from a side that had entered the semi-final as rank outsiders after four consecutive defeats, with head coach Vern Cotter admitting before the match that they had “bumbled” their way into the final four.
The Hurricanes restored their lead through a trademark driving maul, with Kirifi claiming the try from the back after Dearns had won the lineout cleanly. Kirifi was a menace all evening, winning turnovers and slowing the Blues’ ball at almost every ruck in a performance that underlined why he has been one of the competition’s most consistent loose forwards this season.
The Blues suffered two huge blows in the first half when Lam and Clarke both failed head injury assessments within five minutes of each other. Their absences robbed Cotter’s side of much-needed experience in the backline, though replacement Spencer immediately made his presence felt with a clever try – chipping into space for Forbes to regather before backing up on the inside for a simple finish that put the Blues back in front at 14–12.
The lead lasted until the 31st minute when Numia, the in-form loosehead prop, burst through a tackle attempt from Darry to plant under the posts and restore the Hurricanes’ advantage. At 19–14 the half-time margin was far closer than most pundits had forecast, with the Blues’ young forwards – particularly Barnes, who sent a late-season message to the All Blacks selectors with his hard-nosed carrying – keeping the contest alive.
Whatever was said at the break transformed the Hurricanes. They emerged with the same intensity they had started the match and did not let up. Roigard struck first, capitalising on picture-perfect counter-rucking from Lakai to worm his way over near the left corner. Moorby then sprinted clear after Walker-Leawere – on at half-time for the concussed Delany – won the restart, and when Aumua bulldozed his way over after a brilliant cross-field kick from Jordie Barrett, it was three tries in ten minutes and a place in the Grand Final all but secured.
The Hurricanes’ bench made a major impact. Walker-Leawere and Iose provided fresh impetus in the pack, while Enari was sharp off the mark when he replaced Roigard, nipping around the fringes from close range in the 65th minute. Naholo, on for Love at 51 minutes, brought up the half-century when he finished a dazzling team try that involved Iose and Enari combining down the left edge.
Love’s replacement was notable – the fly-half did not appear to be injured, and may have been withdrawn as a precaution for next weekend’s final. He had struggled to impose himself on the contest, with most of the Hurricanes’ attacking spark coming from Roigard, though Love did convert three of his five shots at goal before handing the kicking duties to Jordie Barrett.
Moorby’s try in the 47th minute was significant beyond the scoreboard – it was the Hurricanes’ 100th of the season, making them the first team in Super Rugby history to reach the milestone. Fineanganofo, by contrast, was largely a spectator and remains tied on 16 tries for the season alongside Joe Roff and Ben Lam, with one more match to claim the record outright.
Young Blues hooker Oudenryn provided a consolation moment of quality, hacking ahead from a loose Tuputupu lineout throw and showing impressive speed to gather and score from 35 metres. But Moorby had the final say, finishing off a slick move after Rova and Walker-Leawere had combined from a Perofeta error.
The result brings the curtain down on Cotter’s time in charge of the Blues, with Holland stepping across from the Hurricanes to take the reins next season. The Blues’ campaign will be remembered for a strong start that built a buffer large enough to survive a dreadful run of late-season form, but they were ultimately outclassed by a Hurricanes side that found another gear when it mattered most.
Roared on by a 25,000-strong crowd, the Hurricanes can now look forward to a home Grand Final against the Chiefs – a contest between the competition’s two best sides that promises to be a fitting climax to the Super Rugby Pacific season.
Match details
Hurricanes 57 (Tries: J. Barrett, Kirifi, Numia, Roigard, Moorby 2, Aumua, Enari, Naholo; Conversions: Love 3/5, J. Barrett 3/4)
Blues 21 (Tries: Tuipulotu, Spencer, Oudenryn; Conversions: B. Barrett 3/3)
Half-time: 19–14
Venue: Hnry Stadium, Wellington
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Todd Petrie, Warwick Lahmert
TMO: Richard Kelly
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 Brad Shields, 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Caleb Delany, 3 Pasilio Tosi, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Xavier Numia.
Replacements: 16 Raymond Tuputupu, 17 Siale Lauaki, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 20 Brayden Iose, 21 Ereatara Enari, 22 Jone Rova, 23 Kini Naholo.
Blues: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Cole Forbes, 13 AJ Lam, 12 Xavi Taele, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Stephen Perofeta, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Anton Segner, 6 Torian Barnes, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (c), 3 Marcel Renata, 2 Bradley Slater, 1 Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
Replacements: 16 Eli Oudenryn, 17 Mason Tupaea, 18 Flyn Yates, 19 Josh Beehre, 20 Che Clark, 21 Taufa Funaki, 22 Pita Ahki, 23 Payton Spencer.
What’s next
The Hurricanes will host the Chiefs in the Super Rugby Pacific Grand Final at Hnry Stadium in Wellington next Saturday night. It is a contest between the competition’s two best sides – the Hurricanes chasing their first title since 2016, the Chiefs seeking to end a drought stretching back to 2013.
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