The Ruben Love trait impressing Jason Holland amid derby run

Jason Holland has praised Ruben Love’s temperament as the 24-year-old drives the Hurricanes to one of the club’s best seasons in its 30-year history.

The Hurricanes suffered a dramatic loss at the hands of the Chiefs in Hamilton last weekend, but remain best-placed to finish the regular season as Super Rugby Pacific’s top seed.

Having broken into the Test scene as a fullback, Love has started at No.10 in each of his five games in 2026, with Holland returning from his role as All Blacks attack coach to co-lead the Hurricanes attack alongside Brad Cooper.

The team’s round 9 win over the Blues was eagerly anticipated, and saw Love involved in some verbal sparring with chirpy Blues fullback Zarn Sullivan. The young All Black kept his cool and stuck to the Hurricanes’ game plan, delivering a 42-19 win.

The cool-headed performance, in a match inevitably viewed as an All Blacks trial as Love locked horns with Beauden Barrett, earned plenty of praise from analysts like ex-All Black James Parsons.

In an interview with the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Holland agreed with Parsons that Love’s ability to stay present and committed to the task at hand was an attribute that contributes handsomely to winning rugby.

“That comes with time. You mentioned the next job (mentality), and I think that’s awesome with Rubes, just knowing what the team needs from him next,” Holland told the podcast hosts.

“Obviously, if Zarn was able to rattle Rubes there on Saturday night, he probably would have gone missing for his forwards and his nine for five or six minutes. I think Rubes has really grown in the fact that he understands how he doesn’t have to be the guy that does something special; he can just do the simple things that make things easier on the guys around him.

“It’s a bit like Cam (Roigard) running, they do their job and they control the game, but then, instinctively, they’ll have that crack and see that space when they have it. He’s not looking for that as a first option; that’ll come naturally with Rubes.”

Holland said that Love’s grounded, disciplined approach is aided by the expertise around him in the Hurricanes team.

“That’s just learning. As a young fella, you want to create an impression, and you think you’ve got to do something special to do that. But a lot of times, especially in those game driver spots, if you make life really easy on guys around you, then that’s a massive asset to who you are.

“And as I say that, the one guy who is massive in that space, and who I think Rubes has learnt off, is Billy (Proctor). Jordie (Barrett) as well, but Billy Proctor does so much that makes life for the people around him so easy.

“They’re learning off each other. Jordie’s got his awesome attributes as well, and they’re learning and talking to each other about that.”

The full interview with Jason Holland is available on RugbyPass TV.