Hurricanes crush rivals by 60 points as Ruben Love crowns first full season at fly-half

The Hurricanes are Super Rugby Pacific champions after dismantling their opponents 60-5 in the 2026 grand final — the largest winning margin in the competition’s history — with fly-half Ruben Love collecting the Man of the Match award in just his first full season as a starting No.10.

Love’s performance drew immediate praise from head coach Clark Laidlaw, who highlighted the 25-year-old’s growing maturity in the role. “He’s really starting to grow into his role as a first-five, isn’t he? He’s maturing nicely, starting to make good decisions,” Laidlaw told reporters after the final whistle.

Laidlaw revealed that Love had been working through a mid-season tendency to overthink his game management rather than play instinctively. “In the middle of the season, he was thinking about game management a wee bit too much, thinking what we might want the team to look like instead of just playing,” the coach said. “He feels like he’s got that balance now around understanding when to pull trigger and if we need to kick or slow down.”

The fly-half’s place in the final had been in doubt just weeks earlier after he picked up a calf injury. “A couple of weeks ago, he picked up a calf niggle, so we weren’t sure if he was going to be able to play the semi, and he didn’t train all week,” Laidlaw said. “To be able to put those performances together, it shows that maturity and resilience is starting to build.”

Even Laidlaw admitted the scale of the victory was beyond anything he had anticipated. “We wouldn’t have dreamt of being able to win a final by 60,” he said. “In the first half, it felt like everything went our way — the bounce of a ball and gusts of wind — but I also thought the men were exceptional at taking their opportunities. If you’d told me we’d win like that, we’d have probably doubted you.”

For Laidlaw, the triumph carries particular personal weight. He served as an assistant coach at the Hurricanes between 2013 and 2015, departing before the club won its maiden title in 2016, and was part of a side that finished top of the table in 2015 only to lose the final. “Two years ago, we lost two games and finished top. The part I’m probably more proud of is the consistency,” he said.

“We played our best rugby when it really matters. That shows the belief that the men have got in the systems and structures, and the belief they’ve got in each other — because that’s what it takes.”