Clark Laidlaw reacts to Ruben Love's Man of the Match final performance

The Hurricanes are 2026 Super Rugby Pacific champions, and their 25-year-old No.10 is the grand final Man of the Match.

Having steered his side to the biggest final victory in the competition’s history, Ruben Love followed in the footsteps of some of the greats of the game in collecting the Man of the Match award, and he’s done so in just his first full season in the No.10 jersey.

The impressive feat wasn’t lost on his coach, Clark Laidlaw, who reflected on Love’s season after the final whistle.

“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 postgame.

“I think the pleasing part is that 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.

“So, he feels like he’s got that balance now around understanding when to pull trigger and if we need to kick or slow down or if we lose momentum, to go differently. It feels like he’s really starting to understand that.

“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, so to be able to put those performances together, it shows that maturity and resilience is starting to build.”

Even with the faith the coach has in his troops, Laidlaw admitted the 60-5 scoreline came as a shock.

“We wouldn’t have dreamt of being able to win a final by 60. I think rugby’s sometimes a funny game; 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 and building the game how we wanted to build it.

“There’s a lot that we trained that came off tonight. But if you’d told me we’d win like that, we’d have probably doubted you.”

Laidlaw was with the Hurricanes as an assistant coach for three seasons between 2013 and 2015, but left before the club won its maiden title in 2016. Having seen the team fall short in previous years, the coach said he was most proud of seeing the team perform when it counts most.

“I was here in 2015 when we lost the final. We’d been the best team that year, we’d only lost two games and finished top. Two years ago, we lost two games and finished top. So, the part I’m probably more proud of is the consistency; everybody challenged us around the consistency.

“Two of the last three years, we’ve finished as minor premiers. It was nice to go out and play our best rugby in the playoffs. I think that’s the thing that, as we start reflecting over the next few days, we played our best rugby when it really matters.

“I guess it 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 at the back end of the season.”