'It was personal': The Hurricanes win tasting extra sweet

Caleb Delany came to Wellington in 2018, mainly to study architecture.

Delany was a talented athlete from Nelson. He played age-group softball for New Zealand and won the Philip McDonald Memorial Medal as the top rugby player in the Crusaders First XV competition in 2017. Still, the South Island and national selectors overlooked him.

So he applied for and won the Jack Jeffs Rugby Scholarship. Named after a longtime accountant and former secretary of the New Zealand Rugby Union, the scholarship covered his fees, allowing him to start a Bachelor of Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington while playing rugby for Old Boys University.

Eight years and three Jubilee Cup wins later, Delany jokes that he can hardly remember anything about architecture.

That’s because the Maori All Blacks lock is now a pillar of the Hurricanes forward pack that’s been on a tear in Super Rugby Pacific.

Still, before the Hurricanes faced the Brumbies at the new Te Kaka/One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch on ANZAC Day Saturday, he took the chance to have a good look around and cast an observation.

“Pretty impressive; steep seats make you feel on top of the action and create an awesome atmosphere. It’s great for Christchurch, sheltered and accessible to town. Can’t fault anything really,” Delany told RugbyPass.

The Hurricanes played almost perfectly in their 45-12 win over the Brumbies. Even though the Brumbies had knocked them out of the playoffs three times in the last four seasons, this was the Hurricanes’ biggest win against the two-time Super Rugby champions since a 56-21 victory in 2017. Their largest win over the Brumbies was on ANZAC Day 2009, 56-7 in Wellington, when assistant coach Cory Jane scored the first try.

“It was personal. We brought up our quarter-final loss last year a lot during the week,”  Delany said.

“Our preparation was really thorough and motivated. I was happy to do my role and see the boys fire out wide.”

Winger Fehi Fineanganofo became just the fourth Hurricane to score four tries in a single match. He also scored hat-tricks in Round 6 against the Highlanders (50-7) and Round 7 against the Reds (52-14). Fineanganofo is the first player in Super Rugby history to score three or more tries in a match three times in one season. He has 20 tries in 21 games for the Hurricanes, including 14 in eight games this season. The Newcastle-bound winger is only two tries away from the Super Rugby single-season record, set by fellow Hurricane Ben Lam in 2018.

“It’s awesome to look up from a ruck and see him 50 metres gone,” acclaimed Delany.

“Some of the things he can do are freakish. Our role is to create space for his talent. He’s an absolute weapon.”

Have the Hurricanes set up a ring around or a Givealittle page to keep Fineanganofo in New Zealand?

“You’d have to ask him that,” responded Delany. “He’s going up in value all the time.”

Delany’s locking partner, Warner Dearns, is another soaring asset for the Hurricanes. The six-foot-eight, 124kg Japan captain is averaging 66 minutes per game this season. He has stolen more lineouts than anyone else in Super Rugby Pacific and is just behind Du’Plessis Kirifi as the Hurricanes’ top tackler.

“He’s awesome. His international experience gives us a tougher edge and a new perspective. Besides his main roles, he can do freakish things like big runs on the wing, surprise offloads, and charge downs,” Delany said.

A charge down cost them the game against the Chiefs. Wallace Sititi grabbed a wicked deflection in extra time and scored the winning try.

“That won’t happen again,” retorted Delany.

With so many flashy players around him, Delany is content to stick to his “core roles” of hitting rucks, winning kickoffs and lineouts, and making tackles. Players like him are worth their weight in gold, with coach Clark Laidlaw calling Delany “glue” and “Mr Consistent.”

Along with his 46 games for the Hurricanes, Delany has won 39 out of 57 matches for Wellington, including the 2022 and 2024 NPC Premiership titles. He also played in three wins for the All Blacks XV against Georgia (31-13, 2024), the Barbarians (33-19, 2025), and Uruguay (45-21, 2025).

He insists there’s no chance he’ll do a reverse Leicester Fainga’anuku and play in the backs.

“The hybrid idea is interesting. It gives more options for changing up the bench. The 6-2 split, with loose forwards able to play in the backs, is becoming more common. I think you can speed up the game while keeping a physical edge at the same time,” Delany said.

“The last time I played in the backs was in the Under-12 reps. I was a year young, so they were worried I was too small.”

Team Form

Last 5 Games

45 - 12

22 - 17

42 - 19

52 - 14

7 - 50

35 - 20

31 - 26

31 - 26

69 - 26

21 - 50

4

Wins

3

1

Streak

1

32

Tries Scored

32

132

Points Difference

77

4/5

First Try

5/5

4/5

First Points

4/5

5/5

Race To 10 Points

3/5

Delany and Fainga’anuku will face off when the Hurricanes host the Crusaders at Hnry Stadium in Wellington to kick off Round 12 on Friday night. The Crusaders have won six of their last eight games against the Hurricanes, including five of their last six at Hnry Stadium. The Hurricanes are second on the table with a game in hand and have scored more tries than any other team. The Crusaders are 5-5 and only three points ahead of the Queensland Reds for the last playoff spot.

“They’re going to be desperate. You only have to look at the table to see that,” Delany said.

“The Crusaders are always very accurate at set-piece, clinical off mistakes. We expect a typically tough clash.”

N.B. The Hurricanes won the Captain Shout Cup in their match against the Brumbies. Established last year to honour New Zealand-born Alfred “Whisper” Shout, who showed great courage on several occasions during the Gallipoli campaign. He was posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross.

Remarkably, the Hurricanes have won their last 23 matches in New Zealand against Australian sides. The Hurricanes have also swept the Australian opposition for the fourth time in a season, with the other occasions being 2005, 2017 and 2023.

Interestingly, Al Baxter (68 Tests, 40 wins), who started for the Wallabies in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final against England in Sydney, was one of Te Kaka’s leading architects. He played 122 times for the Waratahs, including two Super Rugby final defeats against the Crusaders in Christchurch in 2005 and 2008.