Hurricanes issue Ruben Love injury update after training setback

The Hurricanes have issued an important injury update ahead of their Super Rugby Pacific season opener next Friday, with playmaker Ruben Love sustaining a setback during a training session in Palmerston North earlier this week.

Love will undergo further assessment early next week, with the Hurricanes set to provide more updates when the extent of the injury is known. The 24-year-old had started at first five-eighth in the team’s last pre-season trial against the Chiefs in Porirua.

Callum Harkin lined up at fullback in the 29-0 defeat at Jerry Collins Stadium, while one-Test All Black Brett Cameron was named on an extended bench. The Canes are already without Harry Godfrey, who will miss the entire 2026 season with a knee injury.

Both the Hurricanes and their fans face an anxious wait for an update on Love’s availability ahead of next Friday’s match against Moana Pasifika in Wellington.

“I just need to be purposeful and direct the team well. I feel like we’ve got a stacked team, and what the boys need from me is just control and riding the momentum of the game,” Love told media in Wellington last week.

“If I can put us in the right areas of the field and just make sure the forwards are getting the communication that they need, I feel like that has us covered.

“I don’t need to reinvent the wheel, or try to be an individual player, I’ve just got to play for the team and play for the players around me, because I feel like we definitely have the squad for me to do that.”

Defending champions the Crusaders, the Highlanders and Blues had seven players each ruled out of the opening round, while the Chiefs are without five players. Macca Springer and Cullen Grace were among those ruled out of the Crusaders’ trip south to Dunedin.

In the opening match of the season, the Highlanders stunned the Crusaders 25-23 in a thrilling South Island derby. First five-eighth Cam Millar converted a long-range plenty with less than two minutes remaining, which ultimately saw the hosts emerge victorious.