'It's embarrassing': Stephen Larkham apologises to Brumbies fans

A very sombre Stephen Larkham fronted media on Friday night after his Brumbies team were put to the sword in the first Super Rugby Pacific qualifying final of the weekend.

The coach faced just two questions, needing no extensive probing to offer his views on what he described as a “comprehensive” Hurricanes win.

With a final scoreline of 66-12, the 54-point margin of defeat is the largest an Australian team has ever suffered in the Super Rugby playoffs. The onslaught started early with tries in the sixth and ninth minutes, and the hosts went on to score the first 31 points of the game before a halftime score of 38-7 was registered.

Sweeping substitutions were made early in the second half, giving the Hurricanes’ stars yet more rest after sitting out last week’s trip to Christchurch with the No.1 seed already secured.

Larkham didn’t hide from the degree to which his squad was outclassed.

“I think pretty comprehensive from the Hurricanes. Probably one of their best performances in terms of defensive pressure, really good, set piece pressure, really good opportunities on counter attack and turnover, outstanding,” the coach said.

“The wind was swirling a lot, there wasn’t a lot of rain, the ball seemed to be pretty easy to control out there, and they controlled it really well.

“I thought we probably won the kicking battle a little bit. Some of the contestables fell our way, but I’d say every other stat went their way, and they just looked very dangerous.

“And from our perspective, far too inconsistent, which is what we’ve seen all year. Just different areas of the game, not consistent enough; the urgency to get into the breakdown, the set piece, scrum and lineout, defensively. Just our ability to solve to an edge was pretty poor tonight.

“They had limited opportunities, but they capitalised on just about every one of those opportunities, so we need to do better in that space.

“But I think from our perspective, you look at the season, we started really well, and we probably came out of the blocks as a bit of a dangerous team in the competition, and when we get things right, we are pretty good, and even tonight there were some good passages, some good individual performances. Some really good passages there, where we put them under a lot of pressure, but it’s far too inconsistent at the moment. And so for us, it’s just a good lesson.

“It’s our preparation for the next season now that we’ll be focused on. We’ll get Super Rugby AUS games down the track, we’ll try and build some combinations through that, but everything starts from this game now, in terms of our preparation, we know what is required now to get to the finals.”

Points Flow Chart

Hurricanes win +54

Time in lead

75

Mins in lead

0

94%

% Of Game In Lead

0%

51%

Possession Last 10 min

49%

14

Points Last 10 min

0

Australia’s hopes of a semi-final berth now rest on the Reds, who are in Hamilton to tackle the No.2 seed Chiefs on Saturday evening.

But for Larkham’s Brumbies, who had been eliminated in four straight semi-finals coming into the 2026 knockouts, the result is undeniably a step in the wrong direction.

“It’s embarrassing,” Larkham said. “And it was frustrating and disappointing, and all the adjectives you’d like to use when you’re on the other side of the scoreboard, and we’re chasing the game, and we’re making it worse by turning the ball over in our end, and they capitalise on that and go and score. It seemed like the harder we tried, the worse things got out there.

“So, yeah, I mean, for our fans back in Australia, we appreciate your support, particularly the ones that follow us, no matter what. We had an up-and-down season, and you rode it with us, and you know we managed to get through the finals, and there was probably some hope there. We’ve let you down, and we’re sorry for that.

“There’s a lot of frustration internally as well, don’t worry. You guys will be disappointed and frustrated, and we’re equally as frustrated and disappointed with ourselves.”