Jordie Barrett: 'We want one this season and we're not going to shy away from that'

The Hurricanes are flying high in 2026, and expectations continue to rise for their coming playoff run. But the team’s leaders say they are better placed to handle those expectations than they have been in recent years.

The Canes claimed their 10th win of the season on Saturday evening, continuing their reign atop the Super Rugby standings with two weeks remaining until the knockout stages.

The latest win, a 47-24 result over the third-placed Blues at Eden Park, affirmed the already well-embedded idea that the Wellingtonians are title favourites in 2026, a crown they have flirted with in recent years without any silverware to show for it.

2024 saw Clark Laidlaw’s men claim the top seed with 12 wins and two losses, a mark they can still achieve this season. The part of that history the club will be hoping to avoid, however, is the part where they lose a home semi-final to the Chiefs.

“We sat down at the start of the year and understood some of the metrics that it takes to win this competition. There are a lot of guys carrying that with them, and you see how motivated the boys are. We want one this season, and we’re not going to shy away from that,” Hurricanes captain Jordie Barrett said after his team’s latest win, before reflecting on the 2024 loss that ended their season.

“We got jumped two years ago against the Chiefs, who were quite loose with the ball, and we still had opportunities to win that game. We got beat, and that’s all it takes in do-or-die footy.

“Look, our main focus is just to try and get there in the first place. Try to qualify first and then whoever we’ve got in the quarter finals, we’ll do what we need to do to them. That’s all we’re aiming for at the moment.”

Laidlaw affirmed that sentiment, and added his perspective on the gains the team has made that will help them as the lights get brighter over the coming weeks.

“We want to be the best team. We want to finish first. We understand that you’ve got to start again in the playoffs, but if you don’t have expectations, then you’re probably going pretty rubbish,” the coach said.

“It’s something that I think we’ve managed way better this year, us concentrating on us. It feels like the men are in a really good, sweet spot around preparation on a Monday. We just come into work and it feels really even, it feels like we’re not too high or too low. I’m really enjoying that, the Monday to Friday part.

“We’ve just got to keep it on, I guess, for the next couple of weeks before we get into the playoffs.”

The Hurricanes’ remaining schedule consists of next week’s match against the Highlanders in Wellington, followed by a trip to Christchurch to face the Crusaders, who are undefeated at their new stadium so far.

Having claimed bonus points in eight of their 10 wins, including their latest triumph, and in both of their losses, the team have earned themselves a five-point buffer atop the Super Rugby Pacific table. Wins in their remaining two local derbies will set them up for a home qualifying final, where a win would see them retain the top seed, and a loss would drop them to fourth but not eliminate them under the updated lucky loser system.

From there, there will be no second chances. Both Laidlaw and Barrett agreed that anything short of a title would sting.

“It would be disappointing, yes,” the coach said. “But being disappointed or thinking we can win doesn’t mean we’re going to win. But we’re not here to shy away from trying to win this competition.”