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