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Highlanders vs Hurricanes takes: Roigard owns Fakatava, Canes silence doubters
By Ben Smith
The table-leading Hurricanes have cooked the Highlanders by 50-7 in a Dunedin demolition job, cementing their status as early season title favourites.
An early try to fullback Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens had the Zoo fizzing, but a double to Cam Roigard quickly turned the game and the Hurricanes never looked back.
They ran rampant in the second half, finishing with 11 line breaks to the Highlanders’ four, with flanker Devan Flanders finishing one of the tries of the season from a set-piece play breaking out of their own half.
Here are quick takes from the Hurricanes massive win over the Highlanders.
Canes silence Landers and doubters
The Hurricanes were essentially labelled flat track bullies by Kiwi fans before this derby, with the ‘yeah but’ criticism coming from fans of other New Zealand teams as they hadn’t played a Kiwi side yet.
Chiefs’ fans were yapping after a 26-0 win over the experimental Hurricanes in pre-season, a game where the Chiefs trotted out an All Black pack against second and third stringers. The Hurricanes kicked off their real season in round two by pumping Moana Pasifika at home then bullied the Waratahs in Sydney, but it wasn’t enough. The doubters are surely quiet now, and those in Hamilton must be quietly bricking it at the thought of facing this juggernaut at full-strength.
The 2026 Hurricanes are on a record pace, piling up points like a video game. There PD before this game was +85, and now its +128. The Highlanders were slaughtered 50-7 by the Canes. There’s a new Super Rugby warlord in town and you might cop 50 rounds of heavy artillery like the Landers if you cross paths on the wrong night.
This might be best-ever Super Rugby backline
The number one attacking team in the competition in points per game and tries per game demonstrated their power in Dunedin with an emphatic performance, with
Fehi Fineanganofo scoring a hat-trick along with a Cam Roigard double in the seven-try effort. The Highlanders scored the first try but they were never in it, copping it from all angles as they were shredded apart by the Canes’ backs.
The Canes’ pack is strong but this attacking juggernaut has possibly one of the best backlines ever seen in Super Rugby. It’s the precision that they operate with, using both short, sharp passing and the long pass through Jordie Barrett and now Ruben Love, that is tearing opposition defences to pieces.
The attack shapes are delicate yet deadly. There are disguised touches and fast movement that all falls into place perfectly. They are on another level, playing better than the All Blacks‘ backline. There is no other team in Super Rugby operating at this level of complexity with this accuracy.
Roigard is the best playmaker in the competition, and now Ruben Love is back forming a strong 9-10 partnership. Outside them Jordie Barrett in career-best form anchoring the set-piece plays. This trio wiped the floor with the Highlanders defence. Love finished with two try assists, Roigard one and Barrett one, while Roigard scored two tries himself.
Cam Roigard owned Folau Fakatava
This match-up pitted two of the premier halfbacks in New Zealand against each other, and it was a chance for one-time All Black Fakatava to stake a claim against the incumbent No.9. But in the end it was no contest as Roigard quickly grabbed control of the game as Fakatava made too many mistakes in the attacking red zone.
Fakatava had a smart break early, taking a quick tap from the scrum and racing off downfield. He made about 30 metres before being gunned down by none other than Roigard, who forced a knock-on and a turnover.
At the other end, Roigard scored two tries from close range, sniping over from the ruck first and then catching Fakatava in a no-win situation retreating back to the line from a quick tap of his own. Roigard beat his opposite with ease to crash over.
Fakatava had flashes of his own and showed his quick pass, but there was a lack of polish in his game, which was consistent across the entire Highlanders team who made error after error. The handling was terrible for a team at this level.
Roigard has the Hurricanes’ backline humming while there are teething issues for Fakatava and what is a talented group at the Landers.
Sevens star gone too soon
Fehi Fineanganofo bagged his second hat-trick of the season against the Highlanders and while most of the tries were regulation, he still had another barnstorming showing.
He finished with four line breaks and 111 running metres, three tries, one try assist and five defenders beaten. He’s now second equal on the try scoring rankings with Max Jorgensen with six for the season.
The 23-year-old left the All Blacks Sevens and joined the Hurricanes last season, but his Super Rugby career will be short-lived with a deal with the Newcastle Red Bulls already in place. The more he plays, the more disappointment there is for 2026’s breakout winger. Fineanganofo will join Salesi Rayasi and Ben Lam as another Canes’ No.11 who perhaps left too soon with Super Rugby form promising a lot more. Like Leroy Carter proved last year, anything can happen.
However, he can still do one thing Lam and Rayasi didn’t while he’s here, which is help the Canes break their 10-year title drought before he leaves.
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