Harry Godfrey taking constructive apporach to breakout Super season

A laconic honesty about Harry Godfrey suggests he has a stable head on his shoulders.

The Hurricanes first five-eighth has been a standout through three rounds of Super Rugby Pacific with some critics even suggesting he’s All Blacks material. Godfrey was quick to dampen that hype.

“Not yet, a long way to go,” Godfrey told RugbyPass.

Godfrey has been labeled a Beauden Barrett (134 Tests, 778 points, 107 wins) lookalike. “Different people” was his short response to that lofty comparison.

Lofty. In the Hurricanes’ 29-33 defeat to the Blues on Saturday, Godfrey scored 24 points, which he reckons is the most he’s scored in any game.

Godfrey’s haul against the defending champions is a Hurricanes record against the Blues, eclipsing the 23 points scored by Jamie Cameron in the first Super Rugby game in 1996. The most points by a Hurricanes player in a defeat was 26 by Beauden Barrett in a 31-35 loss to the Highlanders in 2014.

Still, those milestones, and scoring the winning try against Fijian Dura a week earlier, aren’t enough for the 22-year-old. Godfrey blamed an individual error when the Hurricanes were ahead 29-28 for their eventual demise.

“I made a pretty poor kick in our half that didn’t find grass or create a contestable. It was a nothing kick and they scored from it,” Godfrey admitted.

“Could of, should of, would of. The Blues game was about missed opportunities. We came out after halftime and played well, but didn’t get enough points.

“Momentum switched with their quick try which shouldn’t have happened, and we couldn’t make up the deficit despite all our chances.”

With injuries to Brett Cameron, Ruben Love, and Lucas Cashmore, Godfrey has taken his chance to put his blueprint on the Hurricanes. A running pivot who models his game on Daniel Carter and Beauden Barrett, Godfrey before 2025 had only started one first-class game at ten, a 41-32 win for Hawke’s Bay over North Harbour in the NPC on August 11, 2024.

“I played 10 right throughout high school and in the Whanganui reps. When I made the New Zealand Secondary Schools paper team in 2020, I swapped to fullback,” Godfrey said.

“Playing fullback has given me a greater appreciation of seeing and playing space.”

Godfrey was New Zealand Under 20’s fullback between 2022 and 2023 and won the Sir John Graham Memorial Medal as the most valuable player of the Super Rugby U20 competition in 2023.

He has already played 15 matches for the Hurricanes and 19 for Hawke’s Bay. In 2024, he won all three matches he played for the Hurricanes against the Rebels (54-28 & 47-20) and Moana Pasifika (32-24). In the NPC, he helped Hawke’s Bay to a 27-21 victory against Canterbury, their first victory in Christchurch since 1968, and kicked a last-play sideline conversion to sink Auckland 36-35 in Napier.

“Those are the moments you play for. I made it tough for myself missing three sitters before I got the last two,” Godfrey said.

“Kicking at Sky Stadium is pretty interesting, isn’t it? It’s gusty. On Saturday, I was lucky to get the first one and have the rest of my shots from right out in front.”

The Hurricanes hope to stay ahead of Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday. Although Moana Pasifika has lost all three matches, it has been fiercely competitive in all its outings.

“They’ll be up for the challenge. Half their backline played for the Hurricanes, so they’ll know what we’ll bring. We’ve previewed well this week and appreciate the threats they have. We can’t give them any real opportunity,” Godfrey obsessed.

Godfrey is from Hunterville, a small community on State Highway 1 in the Rangitikei district of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located halfway between Taupo and Wellington and has a population (2018 census) of 408. Welsh international Hadleigh Parkes is their most famous rugby export. There is a monument in Hunterville paying tribute to Huntaway dogs, a large, strongly built breed used for general sheep-herding tasks. Huntaway dogs have a deep bark and are renowned for their durability and work ethic.