10 - 14

21 - 38

38 - 41

42 - 33

71 - 0

25 - 22

22 - 17

41 - 24

43 - 41

32 - 25

17 - 62

24 - 22

42 - 19

31 - 26

40 - 7

WOMENS

45 - 22

33 - 12

WOMENS

19 - 22

19 - 24

WOMENS

43 - 13

32 - 35

26 - 11

15 - 48

24 - 0

41 - 44

30 - 15

HSBC SVNS World Championship 2026
Hong Kong

Thursday

12:00

Friday

00:05

Friday

02:35

Friday

10:00

Friday

10:30

Friday

10:30

Friday

10:30

Friday

10:30

Friday

10:30

Friday

11:45

Friday

11:45

Friday

11:45

Friday

11:45

Friday

12:00

Friday

15:15

Friday

18:00

Super Rugby Pacific

'I find that fairly disrespectful': Clark Laidlaw hits back at 'soft draw' claims

By Henry Lee

2 days ago

Coach Clark Laidlaw of the Hurricanes loduring the round nine Super Rugby match between Hurricanes and Blues at Hnry Stadium, on April 11, 2026, in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

The stage was well and truly set for a top-of-the-table Super Rugby Pacific clash on Saturday night, between Clark Laidlaw’s Hurricanes and Vern Cotter’s Blues.

It was the home side, the Hurricanes, who showcased their qualities in a convincing fashion, securing a 42-19 victory at Hnry Stadium in Wellington.

In the week prior to the matchup, a lot of the talk had been about who the Hurricanes had played, who they hadn’t faced, and whether their form was helped by a so-called “soft draw”.

Laidlaw, who made sure it was clear that they were focusing on their own game, said that he found the discussions about his side’s draw quite rude to their opponents in 2026 so far.

“Yeah. I mean, I would find that fairly disrespectful to the teams we’ve played, but I certainly feel like we played well tonight, I guess a good Blues team that you know had been travelling well,” Laidlaw told media from Wellington.

VIDEO

“So, yeah, we’re well aware of who we play and who we play next and one of the things I’m really enjoying is it’s not really about who we were playing, it’s more about what we were doing inside the four walls here, and how we prepare and then how we play.”

On the game, the Hurricanes head coach, who recently signed an extension with the Wellington-based Super Rugby Pacific franchise, said that it wasn’t as easy as the scoreline suggests.

“So obviously delighted to get a home win with a bonus point, against a good Blues team, I thought they caused us problems for 60 Minutes, there’s a pretty even game, really, and we managed to get on top in that middle part of the
second half.”

Both Laidlaw and co-captain Jordie Barrett discussed how they felt like Saturday night’s encounter was more physical than previous weeks, but both were pleased with the way their side stayed calm.

“It was definitely a step up in physicality and the level of the game and I thought for large parts, we stepped up to that,” Laidlaw explained.

“I thought the Blues defended really well in the first half, and sort of shut us down and I quite enjoyed half time where the men were nice and calm and with a couple of things to talk about.

“So yeah, it was definitely a step up in our performance. But again, like what Jordie said. I guess that’s the challenge, isn’t it?

“Each week you’ve got to be slightly better. But we’ll enjoy tonight, switch off a little bit and then start preparing for the Chiefs tomorrow.”

Comments

17 Comments

DC 22 hours ago

well its super rugby that makes the draw and remember the hurricanes have used up their byes now and they beat the blues by20 points

SS 1 day ago

Laidlaw mentioned them being calm, and I think it’s quite noticeable that they don’t seem to be panicking if things go against them. They trust their processes, and it’s working for them. And yeah, I find the coverage of the Canes is quite disparaging in general

JW 1 day ago

Dunno if that was how I’d discribe their backline play on the weekend, seemed a lot more flustered. The Blues of course haven’t been great themselves.

Jordon 1 day ago

The Truth is the hurricanes are just generally disliked by fans and media across the country and from that they will always be doubted. I’m a canes supporter and having lived in other cities I was genuinely surprised at how disliked they are. This squad has been building for 4 years now and there should be little surprise how well they are playing.

JW 1 day ago

Disliked or apathy at how good they are compared to the talent they’ve had?

smartalec 1 day ago

Yep I agree, I’m a long time Canes supporter and for some reason they just don’t get respect from fans or media. Until last night on the breakdown they have been pretty much ignored for most of the season despite the way they are playing and the big scores they have been putting on other teams.

Two Cents 1 day ago

The Canes are undoubtedly the form team in the competition to date but even they've had some slips.

The order in which you face certain teams and whether you face them at home or abroad has very little provable impact on the outcome of your season. You still have to get the results.

You win or lose simply because you were better on the night. The Canes proved they were better than the Blues on the night and deservedly came away with a bonus point victory.

I'm not a Canes supporter. But you shouldn't knock a team just because they're performing well and you don't like it. Have some real criticisms or just give credit where credit is due.

They're proving hard to beat so any team that manages to do so, especially in Wellington, will set themselves up well for the run home to the finals.

JW 1 day ago

The order in which you face certain teams and whether you face them at home or abroad has very little provable impact on the outcome of your season. You still have to get the results.

That’s not whats being discussed here though is it (bit of a question as I didn’t read the article), were talking about their relative form, which greatly dictates the outcome of your final position once you’ve played the hard teams.

It’s not simply a situation of not respecting that they’re winning games of football.

This is especially pertinent point as people have looked at them and critiqued them because they are at the top, but they have not done the same with their opposition, the Blues. When you do you will find there sequence of home/away fixtures and opposition could easily be used to say that the Canes have still not been tested.

Cantab 2 days ago

Hurricanes were superior to the Blues fore and aft and are shaping as genuine contenders to win the qualifying round. Can’t see the inconsistent Chiefs or an alarmingly poor Crusaders topping them on current form.

JW 1 day ago

Especially fore. Can easily see those two teams being good enough in a one off game, like a Final though right?

SB 2 days ago

It’s just factual, looking at the teams as to where they are placed on the table.

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