Hurricanes smash Brumbies with record win to book home semifinal
Friday, 5 June 2026
The Hurricanes defeated the Brumbies 66-12 at Sky Stadium in Wellington to advance to the Super Rugby Pacific semifinals.
The Hurricanes avenged previous playoff defeats to the Brumbies in 2022, 2023 and 2025 with their record victory.
Replacement winger Ngane Punivai scored a hat-trick after entering the match in the 54th minute for the Hurricanes.
At Hnry Stadium, Wellington: Hurricanes 66 (Caleb Delany 7’, Cam Roigard 11’, 39’ Billy Proctor 28’, Warner Dearns 33’, 48’, Ngane Punivai 60’, 72, 78’ tries; Ruben Love 9 con, pen) Brumbies 12 (Corey Toole 35’ Tane Edmed 52’; Ryan Lonergan con). HT. 38-7.
The Hurricanes will host the lucky loser in a Super Rugby Pacific semifinal in Wellington next Saturday after dismantling the Brumbies on a wet and windy night in the capital.
Clark Laidlaw’s side banished some qualifying-final demons, avenging playoff defeats to the same opposition in 2022, 2023 and 2025 with a record 66-12 victory on Friday.
The lopsided result extended the Hurricanes’ unbeaten record in Wellington in 2026 and left them just two wins away from a second Super Rugby title.
Replacement winger Ngane Punivai scored a second-half hat-trick after entering the game in the 54th minute, highlighting the Hurricanes’ ridiculous depth out wide and creating a headache for Laidlaw with Fehi Fineanganofo due back from injury.
While the Hurricanes had lost their previous three playoff meetings with the Brumbies, all came in Canberra.
Wellington has been a different story – even in conditions that appeared tailor-made for the visitors.
No Australian team has ever won a Super Rugby playoff in New Zealand, and the Brumbies had not tasted victory in Wellington for 12 years.
The contest was effectively over by halftime. Unfazed by the slippery ball, the Hurricanes stormed to a 38-7 lead after scoring five first-half tries, with halfback Cam Roigard crossing twice in just his second match back from a calf injury.
The victory also guaranteed the Chiefs a semifinal berth regardless of the outcome of their qualifying final against the Reds in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Brumbies dominated territory during the opening five minutes but failed to capitalise and were quickly punished.
Ruben Love sparked the opening try with a counterattack from inside his own half. Quick hands from Billy Proctor and Callum Harkin sent lock Caleb Delany over in the seventh minute.
The Hurricanes struck again four minutes later when Asafo Aumua’s offload released Harkin into space before he sent Roigard over.
Momentum remained firmly with the hosts. Proctor and Warner Dearns exposed holes in the Brumbies defence to score, while the visitors’ usually reliable lineout misfired badly, losing five of their own throws.
The Brumbies finally got on the board at 31-0 when Corey Toole collected a Ryan Lonergan box kick after the halfback spotted space in behind the Hurricanes defence.
Any hopes of a comeback were short-lived, with Roigard grabbing the Hurricanes’ fifth try on the stroke of halftime.
Aumua and co-captain Du’Plessis Kirifi were withdrawn early in the second half as Laidlaw managed his squad. Dearns soon crossed from close range for his second try before Delany, Xavier Numia and Pasilio Tosi were also given an early rest.
Roigard’s night ended after 59 minutes, departing to a standing ovation from sections of the crowd.
Toole remained the Brumbies’ biggest threat and created their second try for replacement first five-eighth Tane Edmed after stepping Dearns and selling Harkin with a dummy.
The Hurricanes topped 50 points for the sixth time this season when Punivai pounced on a loose pass and sprinted 55 metres for his first try of an injury-disrupted campaign. After scoring a second in the 71st minute, Punivai completed his hat-trick in the 79th after catching a cross-field kick from Love.
The 66-point haul surpassed the Hurricanes’ previous highest scores against the Brumbies by 10 – 56-7 in 2009 and 56-12 in 2017 – and handed them their heaviest-ever defeat along with the worst loss by an Australian team in Super Rugby finals.
Love scored 21 points himself in another commanding all-round performance, landing all nine conversions and one penalty in a perfect night from the tee.
What they said
Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw: “We’re delighted. We prepared all week with the intensity that a quarterfinal deserves and gave the Brumbies a whole heap of respect for what they’ve done to us over the past few years at this stage in the competition. To start the way we did and get on top on the scoreboard early in those conditions, I thought it was really important. Once we got to 17-0 it felt we didn’t look back from there.”
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham: “It’s embarrassing. It was frustrating and disappointing and all the adjectives you’d like to use. It seemed like the harder we tried the worse things got out there.”