Brett Cameron weighs in on the No.10 battle in the Super Rugby Pacific final

The two perceived front-runners for the All Blacks‘ No.10 jersey in the coming July series will square off at a packed Cake Tin in the Super Rugby Pacific final on Saturday night, with one final chance to convince Dave Rennie that they’re the man for the job.

Watching from the sidelines will be one-Test All Blacks playmaker Brett Cameron, having sustained a season-ending knee injury in round 2, just a year after missing 13 rounds of action due to another serious knee injury.

Cameron was in attendance at Wellington Zoo on Thursday morning when Aranyó, the Spider Monkey who was born in Hamilton but now resides in the capital, predicted who he thought would take home the 2026 title. The 10-year-old primate had two boxes of food to choose from, one decorated with a Chiefs logo and the other wearing a Hurricanes logo.

“It was a little worrying there at the start; he had a peep at the Chiefs, and then, I think it was safe to say he definitely tucked into the Hurricanes’ food box,” Cameron told RugbyPass.

The former Crusaders 10 said the monkey’s prediction could “potentially” be an accurate summation of how Saturday’s final will play out.

“I think it will be tight, for sure. They will come out strong, the Chiefs, but hopefully we can pull through.”

The one showdown between the two clubs during the regular season was the only Super Point finish of the Super Rugby season, and was won in dramatic fashion by the Chiefs when Wallace Sititi collected a deflected drop-goal attempt to score.

Should it come down to the wire again, Cameron says the Hurricanes are “definitely ready” for the big moments.

“We’ve only had one game where it’s actually gone to Super Point, and that was against the Chiefs, so we’ve learnt a lot from that.

“But I think the group’s been awesome this year at just being level-headed, we’ve got awesome leaders in the group to take care of those sorts of moments, problem solve on the run and just be real calm, knowing that we can just back our game to get there in the end…

“We probably haven’t spoken about that (game), specifically, too much. We know the Chiefs very well, and we know what to expect; they’ll be very physical, and they’ll come out of the gates hot. The boys have prepared accordingly for that.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

3

Draws

0

Wins

2

Average Points scored

25

22

First try wins

60%

Home team wins

60%

In the 29-year-old’s absence, Ruben Love has taken the Hurricanes’ No.10 jersey with both hands, driving one of the most high-powered attacks that Super Rugby has seen in the competition’s 30 years.

Having overseen Love’s development over the past four seasons, Cameron is impressed by the 25-year-old’s game IQ and ability to deliver under pressure.

“He’s been awesome. He’s just really well-rounded in his game, and it’s happened pretty quickly this year, playing 10. Him and our coaches have done an awesome job around our game, making sure that our game as a whole is really well-rounded, and we can back our style of play, keeping the ball in hand a lot, and also knowing when we lose momentum, how we can get it back, whether it’s through our kicking game or whatever that is.”

Both playmakers are involved in shaping the team’s attack plans each week, with their own strategy group where they develop ideas to exploit opportunities they see in the opposition’s defensive structures, in addition to their work with the coaches.

“We have our own little strat groups, and we’ll look at scrum strike opportunities for us during the week, and that’s something that we both enjoy doing; coming up with moves that might go well against each opposition. It’s always fun to look at opportunities there.

“And then, we’re in the attack strat group, working closely with the coaches and the other game-drivers; we have really good conversations.”

In the final, Love will be going toe-to-toe with the mercurial Damian McKenzie around the park, a man with nearly 100 more Super Rugby appearances under his belt.

“It’ll be awesome to see,” Cameron said of the matchup. “Damian’s a special player, and the way he runs that Chiefs team, they’re a different side with him at 10. So, I think Ruben will thrive; he’s been awesome at 10 this year, and it’s going to be awesome to watch.”