'It's their title to lose': James Parsons on Super Rugby Pacific's favourites

Former All Black James Parsons has labelled the Super Rugby Pacific competition as the Hurricanes’ to lose, following their 66-12 demolition job of the Brumbies in Wellington.

Clark Laidlaw’s side dominated the qualifying final at Hnry Stadium from minute one, running in nine tries in below-par weather in Wellington.

The Brumbies, who Stephen Larkham admitted were well off the pace on Friday night, were unable to continue their stretch of playoff victories against the Wellington-based Super Rugby Pacific franchise.

Finishing first in the regular season also comes with the option of deciding which weekend date the semi-final will be, with Laidlaw’s side opting for the Saturday night slot at 7:05pm NZT.

The Blues, who qualified as the lucky loser, will travel to Wellington on the back of four straight defeats, including their last game against the Hurricanes, which ended in a 47-24 loss.

Speaking on The Breakdown, Parsons explained that the Hurricanes will be aware of the two teams on the other side of the draw, but also understand the quality that they possess.

“It definitely is their comp to lose, but I also think they would be naive if they can’t acknowledge what the Crusaders have done historically in finals footy, and what they’ve seen in the last couple of weeks” Parsons said.

Former World Cup-winning All Black first-five Stephen Donald believes the way the Hurricanes got the job done in the conditions, will give them the most confidence moving into the semi-finals.

“It’d be a big tick in their own heads about we can win like this, because I guess the naysayers might have said, front foot ball, dry conditions, well, they got the worst possible conditions in a finals game, and they still were able to play like they have all year.

“So I think that’s a massive, massive tick.”

60-Test former All Black Jeff Wilson pinpoints Ruben Love’s performance on Friday night as another defining moment in their season.

“It was a remarkable performance in challenging conditions, I don’t know what the Brumbies did when they were coming over and what they did in preparation for this game, but they were atrocious, they were as bad as the conditions,” Wilson said.

“I thought it was awesome for the way the Hurricanes just continued to play, if you wanted to know about Ruben Love and his metal and his kicking ability in those conditions, I think it was just another step forward for this team.

“They’ve got all worlds of confidence right now, and they’re fun to watch.”

Parsons agrees with Wilson on Love, saying that his game driving progression in recent weeks has impressed him.

“Yeah, and it’s their accuracy, their ability to create separation between the attackers and the defenders, and then they just manipulate them and they pick them off.

“It really is, and I do think it was a really coming of age, big occasion, the way Ruben Love now literally just sets his team up for success, it’s really impressive.”