Return of All Black Tyrel Lomax can’t come soon enough as Hurricanes finally show an Achilles heel

Monday, 25 May 2026

Hurricanes prop Pouri Rakete-Stones endured a torrid night against the Highlanders scrum - but he wasn’t alone.

ANALYSIS: Hurricanes hooker Asafo Aumua wasn’t too pleased after the Hurricanes’ win against the Highlanders on Saturday, despite the 45-28 result guaranteeing they will finish top of the Super Rugby ladder.

Aumua’s issue was the 28 points conceded by the Hurricanes, but when they review how that happened against a team that could yet finish 10th on the ladder, the answer will be simple: the scrum.

The Highlanders scored three tries from strong or dominant scrums.

In fact, when the Highlanders had their first-choice front row on the field, they “won” the game 21-17.

Tighthead Angus Ta’avao and hooker Jack Taylor changed the game when they joined Ethan de Groot just after the half-hour mark.

By that stage, the Hurricanes led 28-7, with 21 of those points coming after the Highlanders’ starting loosehead prop Daniel Lienert-Brown was shown a red card.

That head start meant the Hurricanes were always in a strong position to win the game, but the return of Tyrel Lomax now can’t come soon enough and Xavier Numia needs to stay healthy as the playoffs loom.

If Lomax is ready - and the Hurricanes said last week he was one week away - he needs to play against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday.

Pasilio Tosi is in the form of his life due to the extra game time resulting from Lomax’s injuries, but the Bay of Plenty man is probably due a rest.

In turn, Lomax needs game time and he would give the Hurricanes a massive boost if he gets anywhere near his best for the playoffs.

The Hurricanes’ scrum hasn’t been a problem so far this year - if anything it has been an asset.

But with the playoffs just around the corner teams such as the Crusaders will see the Hurricanes’ struggles against the Highlanders as a potential area of vulnerability in a team that has shown very few weaknesses.

It would be easy to point to replacement front-rowers Pouri Rakete-Stones, Jacob Devery and Tevita Mafileo as the cause of the Hurricanes’ issues, as the trio were on the field when Rakete-Stones was shown a yellow card for the scrum’s repeated penalties.

But Tosi and Aumua still were on the field when the Highlanders had already established dominance, and Aumua was popped up at scrum time by Ta’avao and Taylor in the scrum penalty before Highlanders’ halfback Adam Lennox’s quick-tap try.

When the Hurricanes’ scrum is put under pressure like this, it takes their biggest strength - their loose forwards - out of the game for long periods.

It’s no coincidence that Highlanders No 7 Lucas Casey ran for more metres than Peter Lakai on Saturday - and still had enough gas in the tank to make 11 more tackles than the All Black.

One of Lakai’s missed tackles was also against Casey after yet another powerful Highlanders scrum.

So, if anyone needed a blueprint how to beat the Hurricanes, the Highlanders tight five provided it on Saturday.

The challenge for the Hurricanes will be to show that Saturday was an aberration, and simply a reflection on the facet of the game where the Highlanders are “best in class”.

Their fate in the playoffs probably depends on it.