Latest news with #WellingtonHurricanes
Reuters
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Chiefs brace for Hurricanes in windy Wellington
MELBOURNE, May 1 (Reuters) - The Wellington Hurricanes left wreckage in Canberra last weekend and will hope to inflict more damage on the Waikato Chiefs on their return home to New Zealand's windy capital on Saturday. The fifth-placed Hurricanes reignited their Super Rugby Pacific season with the 35-29 win at the third-placed ACT Brumbies, putting the stamp on a successful tour of Australia after holding Western Force to a 17-17 draw in Perth. The leading Chiefs will be a step up for Clark Laidlaw's men but the visitors have been depleted by injuries to key players, including All Blacks playmaker Damian McKenzie and centre Anton Lienert-Brown. "We're excited for the game this weekend, Chiefs are the top of the table, and we know what sort of challenge that will present," Laidlaw said. "It'll be a good opportunity to test ourselves .... and build a bit of momentum." Victory for the Chiefs would mean breathing space from the second-placed Canterbury Crusaders who are level on 37 points but sit out the round with a bye. Eight points adrift, the third-placed Brumbies host the New South Wales Waratahs, who return from a bye following an away loss to Fijian Drua. The Waratahs, who have slipped out of the top six, broke a 13-match losing streak against the Brumbies in March but have not beaten anyone outside of Sydney this season. The Stephen Larkham-coached Brumbies, meanwhile, have won their last seven at home against the Waratahs and will expect to rebound on Saturday in the run-up to the playoffs. With five rounds left in the regular season, the Queensland Reds are two points behind the Brumbies and challenging their traditional standing as Australia's best Super Rugby outfit. REDS TO SUVA The Reds head to Suva hoping for a first away win over bottom-placed Drua on Saturday and with coach Les Kiss free to focus purely on the team. Kiss was confirmed on Wednesday as Joe Schmidt's successor as Australia coach from mid-2026 after months of speculation. "We go to Fiji on Saturday and do a job there," Kiss said. "I'll just be going back and doing what I can on a weekly basis, on a daily basis, to build something that's special (at the Reds)." The Auckland Blues' title defence is all but over following their 35-21 defeat by the Reds last weekend but the defending champions will bank on keeping their mathematical playoffs hopes alive when they host the Force at Eden Park on Friday. The Blues' sole defeat to the Force was back in 2008 at North Harbour Stadium, and the Perth team have been lamentable in New Zealand this season. Thrashed 56-22 by the Chiefs last week, the Force will hope the return of 36-year-old veteran Kurtley Beale from injury can lift them. Beale said he pondered retiring during his rehab from a ruptured Achilles. "But there was something burning inside of me, deep down, to continue to play," said the 95-cap Wallaby. "Not every player gets to finish on their terms." Moana Pasifika will hope the Blues beat the Force as they prepare to meet the 10th-placed Otago Highlanders in Dunedin on Sunday. Eighth in the table, Moana have never beaten the Highlanders in five matches but a breakthrough win coupled with a Force loss could see Moana leap into the top six sides who will contest the playoffs.
Straits Times
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Chiefs brace for Hurricanes in windy Wellington
MELBOURNE - The Wellington Hurricanes left wreckage in Canberra last weekend and will hope to inflict more damage on the Waikato Chiefs on their return home to New Zealand's windy capital on Saturday. The fifth-placed Hurricanes reignited their Super Rugby Pacific season with the 35-29 win at the third-placed ACT Brumbies, putting the stamp on a successful tour of Australia after holding Western Force to a 17-17 draw in Perth. The leading Chiefs will be a step up for Clark Laidlaw's men but the visitors have been depleted by injuries to key players, including All Blacks playmaker Damian McKenzie and centre Anton Lienert-Brown. "We're excited for the game this weekend, Chiefs are the top of the table, and we know what sort of challenge that will present," Laidlaw said. "It'll be a good opportunity to test ourselves .... and build a bit of momentum." Victory for the Chiefs would mean breathing space from the second-placed Canterbury Crusaders who are level on 37 points but sit out the round with a bye. Eight points adrift, the third-placed Brumbies host the New South Wales Waratahs, who return from a bye following an away loss to Fijian Drua. The Waratahs, who have slipped out of the top six, broke a 13-match losing streak against the Brumbies in March but have not beaten anyone outside of Sydney this season. The Stephen Larkham-coached Brumbies, meanwhile, have won their last seven at home against the Waratahs and will expect to rebound on Saturday in the run-up to the playoffs. With five rounds left in the regular season, the Queensland Reds are two points behind the Brumbies and challenging their traditional standing as Australia's best Super Rugby outfit. REDS TO SUVA The Reds head to Suva hoping for a first away win over bottom-placed Drua on Saturday and with coach Les Kiss free to focus purely on the team. Kiss was confirmed on Wednesday as Joe Schmidt's successor as Australia coach from mid-2026 after months of speculation. "We go to Fiji on Saturday and do a job there," Kiss said. "I'll just be going back and doing what I can on a weekly basis, on a daily basis, to build something that's special (at the Reds)." The Auckland Blues' title defence is all but over following their 35-21 defeat by the Reds last weekend but the defending champions will bank on keeping their mathematical playoffs hopes alive when they host the Force at Eden Park on Friday. The Blues' sole defeat to the Force was back in 2008 at North Harbour Stadium, and the Perth team have been lamentable in New Zealand this season. Thrashed 56-22 by the Chiefs last week, the Force will hope the return of 36-year-old veteran Kurtley Beale from injury can lift them. Beale said he pondered retiring during his rehab from a ruptured Achilles. "But there was something burning inside of me, deep down, to continue to play," said the 95-cap Wallaby. "Not every player gets to finish on their terms." Moana Pasifika will hope the Blues beat the Force as they prepare to meet the 10th-placed Otago Highlanders in Dunedin on Sunday. Eighth in the table, Moana have never beaten the Highlanders in five matches but a breakthrough win coupled with a Force loss could see Moana leap into the top six sides who will contest the playoffs. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Telegraph
07-03-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Super Rugby slammed amid Fiji fury at players crammed into lorry before match
Former Fiji international Nemani Nadolo has slammed Super Rugby organisers after logistical foul-ups dogged the Fijian Drua on a recent trip to New Zealand to play the Wellington Hurricanes. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Thursday that the Drua players were forced to jump into a truck hired to transport the team's baggage and equipment after their bus failed to turn up at the airport just before midnight on February 21. The following day, the newspaper reported, the Drua players - but not those of the Hurricanes - were forced to check out of their hotel hours before the kick-off in Napier, which they lost 38-34. 'Bear in mind every Super Rugby side that comes to Fiji will get police escort everywhere they go,' Nadolo, a world-class winger who played 30 times for his country, wrote in a post on X beneath a picture of the Drua players in the baggage truck. 'Yet this is a picture of a Super Rugby side that's sitting at the back of a truck going to their hotel in NZ. 'How is this even happening? Can you imagine if this was an Aussie or a NZ franchise side? Driving in the back of a truck at midnight after showing up to the airport to find out your team bus wasn't there. Please tell me this is a joke?' Bear in mind every Super Rugby side that comes to Fiji will get police escort everywhere they go. Yet this is a picture of a super rugby side that's sitting at the back of a truck going to their hotel in NZ!!!! DVC. #breaksme — nemzy (@nemani_nadolo) March 6, 2025 Fijian-born former Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri also weighed in, telling Australian Associated Press that the mistreatment of the Drua players was 'unacceptable'. 'You can't expect a team to be treated that way,' Tuqiri said. 'They're not an under-11s or under-12s team ... they're a professional outfit and they should be treated accordingly.' Fijian Drua made the issues known to Super Rugby management, who said they had launched an immediate review. 'Several oversights and breakdowns in communication were identified which unfortunately created additional challenges for the Drua,' chief executive Jack Mesley told the SMH. 'Those issues have now been addressed with the clubs and an external transport provider. While it is disappointing to have these issues arise in our competition, it has given us the opportunity to assess and refine our team travel processes moving forward.' The Drua are unlikely to have any similar issues this weekend as they host the competition-leading Waikato Chiefs in Lautoka on Saturday.
