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Sir Wayne Smith: NZR has jumped the gun on Razor’s All Blacks exit
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'World class player': Clark Laidlaw on Barrett return and off-season signings
By Henry Lee
Amidst the discussions surrounding the All Blacks this week, Super Rugby Pacific sides have been battling away in pre-season training, preparing for another season that gets underway in February.
The full list of pre-season fixtures for 2026 was released earlier this week, with five New Zealand derbies to look forward to before the season gets underway on February 13.
For the Hurricanes, who finished fourth in the regular season last year, the focus will be on improving on a quarter-final exit ahead of the 2026 season.
Hurricanes head coach Clark Laidlaw is now in his third season with the Wellington-based franchise, and will be joined by former All Blacks assistant Jason Holland this season, who left his role as an attack, and strike coach under Scott Robertson.
All Blacks lineout coach Bryn Evans will return to Wellington for the Super Rugby Pacific season in the international off-season, after a year of experience under Robertson in the All Blacks.
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Having 78-Test All Black midfielder Jordie Barrett is like a brand new signing for Laidlaw, while adding Japan international Warner Dearns will add some much-needed steel into the Hurricanes’ second row.
Speaking to Tony Johnson on Sport Nation Mornings, Laidlaw explained how good it is to have Barrett back in camp.
“He’s a genuine world class player. It’s so helpful to have a really good player like him back in the mix, and he’s been back in training the last week and a half. He’s back in early which sort of shows his hunger to come in and make impact within the group,” Laidlaw said.
“And I really feel, I guess, his maturity, his communication, his voice, you can really feel that.”
Not only have Barrett and Dearns been added to the squad, but Josh Moorby and Lucas Cashmore are also in yellow for the 2026 season.
Laidlaw is full of praise for his new Japanese lock, who decided to take a sabbatical in New Zealand to experience a different league before the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
“He wanted to go and experience different rugby, he’s obviously played a lot of rugby in Japan and he was really ambitious around improving his game, I think he probably had all of the New Zealand Super Rugby teams, and some European options as well.
“And then obviously a little gem we have in our back pocket is that he’s a local boy in a Hurricanes family, his mum’s over the hill. His sister lives in Wellington, so I guess that was maybe a little draw card that we had from him coming here.
“I think we really love his movement around the field and his set-piece work is outstanding.”
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