Hurricanes Rewrite the Script - Episode 78

All right, everyone, welcome to the pod.

Today, we're doing a full finals review of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific Final between the Hurricanes and the Chiefs.

This one is gonna hurt as a Chiefs fan, but as a Super Rugby Pacific and an All Blacks fan, This one really does feel like a season that changed the conversation.

The Hurricanes didn't just win the competition.

They led in with tries with 113 and points with 745 points.

Then backed it up with a 60-5 demolition of the Chiefs in that final.

That combination of season-long production and finals dominance is what makes them a clear story of the year.

The Chiefs were excellent too.

I think we will have to give them credit finishing second in both tries and points with 89 and 615.

And you could see what they have been building over the past four years.

You could see the excellent season they had and how many dominant performances they also had.

But whether you want to blame the weather, the Chiefs not being able to close it in finals or any other reason or excuse you want to give, the gap between the two top teams became very obvious on the biggest night of the season.

And that's very difficult for me to say because I'm always a Chiefs advocate.

I know what they've brought.

Even with Jono Gibbs as the new head coach coming in, stepping in after Clayton McMillan had left, He brought a lot to this squad.

But I do want to break down this into three parts.

First, the season as a whole, the teams that defined it.

Second, the statistical leaders and breakout players.

And third, the all-black selection debate, where the real arguments now sit because so many of these performances have rolled directly into national team discussions.

So the first part, the season at large, I think the headline of 2026 is simple.

The Hurricanes were the best attacking side in the competition from start to finish.

Leading the league in tries and points is one thing, but doing it while also finishing the season with that kind of control in the final is what makes this feel historically significant.

The thing that stood out the most about the Hurricanes was not just about the volume of points, but the way they produced them.

They weren't living off broken play or random momentum swings.

They were constantly and consistently creating field position, winning collisions, turning half chances into full breaks.