Super Rugby Pacific wrap: Chiefs again prove fast starters as blockbuster against Crusaders awaits
Monday, 23 February 2026
They might not have the secret recipe for winning their last game of the season, but the Chiefs certainly know the magic formula for a fast start in Super Rugby Pacific.
The Hamilton-based franchise have of course been on the losing end of the last three finals in the competition, yet when it comes to getting out of the gates, there is no team more consistent.
That much is clear once more, with a new coach at the helm (Jono Gibbes taking over from Clayton McMillan) but normal service resuming, with the Chiefs banking back-to-back wins to start the season for a fourth-year running, with a second-straight derby victory on the road having them chugging along nicely for a blockbuster home opener against the Crusaders in Hamilton on Saturday night.
The Kiwi derby will have even more riding on it after the defending champion Crusaders fell into an 0-2 hole, suffering a shock 50-24 thumping by the Brumbies in Christchurch on Sunday. Alarm bells will be ringing loudly at Crusaders HQ after they followed up their sluggish round one loss to the Highlanders with another poor outing.
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The repeat of last year’s final will make for a fascinating early-season match-up, in a contest which, while far from having everything on the line, is still likely to be a determining one that’s looked back on in a few months’ time when the playoff positions are all sorted.
The past three years, and four of the last five, the Chiefs have got the better of the red and blacks in their first meeting of the season. Do that again here and the competition favourites will again be stationed in their accustomed position of frontrunners, and with an ominous warning to the rest of the field.
Because, on the evidence so far of their 19-15 round-one win over the Blues in Auckland, then Saturday night’s 26-23 victory over the Highlanders in Dunedin, there is far more personnel and panache still to come.
“It’s very pleasing,” captain Luke Jacobson said, after his side’s four-tries-to-three win under the roof against a southern side who had upset the defending champs on the same turf eight days prior.
“We’re not playing at our best, but the good thing is we still came away with the win.”
Indeed, there was a bonus point there for the taking, only for the Chiefs to give up two tries (and a yellow card) inside the final five minutes, which ended up seeing the Highlanders nab the extra point themselves.
“We never really shut the gate on them,” Gibbes noted. “We left the door open a little bit, they forced their way through that, as we had previewed. But also our bench gave fresh legs at a crucial part in that second half and helped swing a little bit of that physical battle, too.”
Gibbes, who has re-entered the head-coaching game following stints in Ireland and France, declared these Kiwi derbies as rather similar to the European style, where he cited the familiarity between players, punishing physicality, immense scrap for possession, the focus on defence, and “the smallest of margins which can switch a game”.
After this weekend the Chiefs will have ticked off three of their seven derbies, and then play just one in the next 10 rounds, with three more loaded in the last three rounds of the regular season.
They will also be buoyed by the fact they have done all this without not only their premium playmaker Damian McKenzie (paternity leave), but fellow All Blacks Wallace Sititi and Ollie Norris. Two more ‒ Samipeni Finau and Cortez Ratima ‒ also missed the Highlanders game, while Leroy Carter (80 minutes), Simon Parker (66 minutes) and Emoni Narawa (22 minutes) slotted in after sitting out round one.
That is some depth that other teams would die for.
Sorriest of sights
Speaking of depth, the Hurricanes will need to utilise all they have at first-five, after what coach Clark Laidlaw rightly labelled “a hammer blow” to Brett Cameron.
The 29-year-old one-test All Black (2018) was stretchered off Sky Stadium on Friday night with a knee injury as the Canes (after a round-one bye) opened their campaign with a 52-10 cruise over a rested-and-rotated Moana Pasifika.
This the same bloke who had missed much of last season as he worked his way back from a ruptured ACL sustained at Manawatū training in September 2024.
“It didn’t look good,” Laidlaw acknowledged soon after fulltime, with Cameron having been taken straight to hospital.
“He worked so bloody hard last year [to manage a quicker-than-usual recovery]… he’s in great condition, had an awesome pre-season, he’s been leading the team really well, so it’s a hammer blow to him, it’ll take a wee bit of sinking in and we’ll need to get round him if it’s serious.”
While the Canes backline ran wild, with winger Josh Moorby celebrating a hat-trick on return from France, thanks to the genoristy of fellow flyer Fihe Fineanganofo offloading to him while over the line himself after two tries of his own, they will need a re-think at No 10.
After injurying an ankle in the final week of pre-season, Ruben Love is out for four to six weeks, while Harry Godfrey (ACL) is expected to miss the entire campaign, leaving either Lucas Cashmore or Callum Harkin, who was excellent stepping up from fullback against Moana, to start against the Fijian Drua in Lautoka on Saturday.
Two shades of blue
Probably the less said about the Blues’ 42-32 win over the Force in Perth the better.
There were pre-season vibes all over the game. A sunny summer afternoon, an alternate venue (HIF Health Insurance Oval in Joondalup) where the crowd picnicked on the grass bank, an inferior broadcast setup making the TV coverage a tough watch, a high-scoring game, and plenty of frustrating errors.
Despite the potential for a great spectacle, a strong wind did not help execution and Vern Cotter’s men won it rather ugly, even managing to let a bonus point slip when conceding 79th minute try.
They will stay on across the Tasman to face the Brumbies on Saturday night in what will surely be a much sterner challenge.
Meanwhile, the other ‘Blues’, also known as the Waratahs, made it back-to-back bonus-point home wins to start the season, after backing up their good first-up showing over the Reds with a 36-13 victory over the Fijian Drua that showcased another strong second half in Sydney.
Counties Manukau and former Crusaders hooker Ioane Moananu scored two tries to mark a memorable debut for NSW, who are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2023. Last year they didn’t lose till round five, so they will go into their bye week well aware it is only a start.
Super Rugby Pacific, Rd 2
At Sky Stadium, Wellington: Hurricanes 52 (Josh Moorby 3, Fihe Fineanganofo 2, Brayden Iose 2, Billy Proctor tries; Brett Cameron con, Jordie Barrett 5 con) Moana Pasifika 10 (Tuna Tuitama, Patrick Pellegrini tries). HT: 24-5.
At Allianz Stadium, Sydney: Waratahs 36 (Max Jorgensen 2, Ioane Moananu 2, Charlie Gamble, Angus Blyth tries; Lawson Creighton 3 con) Fijian Drua 13 (Taniela Rakuro try; Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula con, 2 pen). HT: 14-10.
At Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin: Chiefs 26 (Samisoni Taukei’aho 2, Leroy Carter, Kaylum Boshier tries; Josh Jacomb 3 con) Highlanders 23 (Jona Nareki, Caleb Tangitau, Veveni Lasaqa tries; Cameron Millar con, 2 pen). HT: 14-7.
At HIF Health Insurance Oval, Perth: Blues 42 (Joshua Fusitu’a, Stephen Perofeta, Zarn Sullivan, Torian Barnes, Cole Forbes, Josh Beehre tries; Perofeta 6 con) Force 32 (Harry Johnson-Holmes, Carlo Tizzano, Bayley Kuenzle, Ben Donaldson tries; Ben Donaldson 3 con, 2 pen) HT: 14-17.
At Apollo Projects Stadium: Brumbies 50 (Charlie Cale 2, Andy Muirhead, James Slipper, Kadin Pritchard, Liam Bowron, Rob Valetini, Corey Toole tries; Ryan Lonergan 2 conv); Tane Edmed 3 con) Crusaders 24 (David Havili, George Bell, Sevu Reece, Leicester Fainga’anuku tries; Taha Kemara 2 con, HT: 19-14.
Points (games played): Brumbies 10 (2), Waratahs 10 (2), Chiefs 8 (2), Hurricanes 5 (1), Blues 5 (2), Highlanders 5 (2), Moana Pasifika 4 (1), Crusaders 1 (2), Reds 0 (1), Fijian Drua 0 (2), Force 0 (2).