Hurricanes
Brumbies
Sky Stadium, Wellington
Championship Standings
The Hurricanes top the table on 31 points from 8 games with a competition-best +184 differential — level on points with the Chiefs but with a game in hand. The Brumbies sit 5th on 25 points from 9 — the best of the Australian sides, but coming off a chastening 33–28 home loss to the Drua that dented their top-four grip.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hurricanes | 8 | 6 | 2 | +184 | 31 |
| 2 | Chiefs | 9 | 7 | 2 | +109 | 31 |
| 3 | Blues | 9 | 6 | 3 | +79 | 29 |
| 4 | Crusaders | 10 | 5 | 5 | +54 | 25 |
| 5 | Brumbies | 9 | 5 | 4 | +49 | 25 |
| 6 | Queensland Reds | 8 | 5 | 3 | −36 | 22 |
| 7 | NSW Waratahs | 9 | 4 | 5 | −43 | 19 |
| 8 | Highlanders | 9 | 3 | 6 | −55 | 16 |
| 9 | Fijian Drua | 9 | 4 | 5 | −93 | 16 |
| 10 | Western Force | 9 | 3 | 6 | −26 | 14 |
| 11 | Moana Pasifika | 9 | 1 | 8 | −222 | 4 |
Hurricanes
W6, L2The competition's most ruthless attack — 323 points in 8 games (40.4 per outing) with five wins by 23+. The blemishes are both five-point away losses in hostile environments: Suva in February and FMG Stadium last weekend. At home they are untouchable, averaging 44 points per game at Sky Stadium and never winning by fewer than 23. The Chiefs loss was a reality check — a scrappy, error-strewn 22–17 in which the attack misfired — but they return to Wellington where everything has clicked in 2026.
Brumbies
W5, L4McKellar's Brumbies are the best of the Australian sides — and still wildly inconsistent. Two thunderous opening wins (56–24 over the Force, 50–24 at the Crusaders) have given way to four losses in seven, three of them at home and three by 5 points or fewer. Last weekend's 33–28 loss to the Drua at GIO was the most damaging — the pre-match scorecard had them at 88% and they played like they believed it. Road form is the redemption: 4 wins from 5 away trips in 2026, including that Crusaders demolition in Christchurch. But they've never broken a New Zealand ground like they broke AMI — and they've never left Wellington with a win in a decade.
Head-to-Head in Wellington
5 – 0 – 2
Hurricanes wins · Draws · Brumbies wins (last 7 meetings in Wellington)
The overall series favours the Brumbies 12–8, but Wellington has been a Hurricanes fortress for over a decade — they've won the last 4 straight at Sky Stadium by an average margin of 27 points. The Brumbies haven't won in Wellington since 2014 (29–21). Recent meetings have mostly been in Canberra, where the Brumbies have dominated — winning 5 of the last 6 overall in the series, including a 35–28 at GIO last June and both 2022 clashes by 10+ points.
Recent Results
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 2025 | Super Rugby Pacific | Brumbies 35–28 Hurricanes |
| Apr 2025 | Super Rugby Pacific | Brumbies 29–35 Hurricanes |
| Apr 2024 | Super Rugby Pacific | Brumbies 27–19 Hurricanes |
| Jun 2023 | Super Rugby Pacific | Brumbies 37–33 Hurricanes |
| Apr 2023 | Super Rugby Pacific | Hurricanes 32–27 Brumbies |
| Jun 2022 | Super Rugby Pacific | Brumbies 35–25 Hurricanes |
Average score in the last 6 meetings: Across the last 7 Wellington meetings: Hurricanes 37 – Brumbies 20. The Hurricanes have scored 40+ in three of those matches, including a 56–21 demolition in 2017 and 43–13 in 2019.
Extended Form
Hurricanes11W, 4L, 1D (last 12 months)
2026: wins over Moana (52–10), Waratahs (59–19), Force (31–23), Highlanders (50–7), Reds (52–14), Blues (42–19); losses to Drua in Suva (20–25) and Chiefs at FMG (17–22). 2025: beat Chiefs 35–17, Highlanders 24–20, Reds 31–27, Moana 64–12; lost to Blues, Crusaders (24–31) and the 35–28 defeat in Canberra.
The Hurricanes have been the form team of 2026, with six of their seven wins by 23+. The home record is the cornerstone: four consecutive bonus-point wins at Sky Stadium with 42–, 52–, 31– and 52–point hauls. Jordie Barrett's distribution and Ruben Love's running game have been the attack's engines. The Chiefs loss exposed them to a territorial, pressure-based gameplan — which is exactly what the Brumbies will try to emulate.
Brumbies7W, 8L (last 12 months)
2026 SRP: W vs Force 56–24, W vs Crusaders 50–24, W vs Blues 30–27, L vs Reds 31–34, L vs Drua 27–42, W vs Chiefs 33–24, L vs Waratahs 28–30, W vs Highlanders 14–10, L vs Drua 28–33. 2025 Super Rugby AUS saw them beat the Hurricanes 35–28 in June and reach the playoffs.
The Brumbies' 2026 has been a study in volatility — two +26-point away wins bookending a stretch of three-to-five-point defeats. The structural problem: they've lost 3 of their 4 home games, and their road defence has been sharper than their home attack. Away from Canberra they average 28 points conceded, at home they average 33 — a rare inversion. Beating the Hurricanes in Wellington would require exactly the gritty, territory-dominated performance they produced in Dunedin.
Hurricanes XV
Lineups not yet announced. Expect head coach Clark Laidlaw to restore his first-choice XV after the Chiefs loss. Jordie Barrett anchors the backline alongside Ruben Love at fullback and Bailyn Sullivan out wide; TJ Perenara is the talisman at 9 with Ruben Love or Brett Cameron likely starting at 10. Up front Asafo Aumua, Tyrel Lomax and Xavier Numia form one of the most destructive front rows in the competition, with Du'Plessis Kirifi leading the breakdown charge.
Brumbies XV
Lineups not yet announced. Dan McKellar will be under pressure to respond to the Drua loss — expect close to a full-strength XV. The Wallaby spine of Rob Valetini, captain Allan Alaalatoa, James Slipper and Nick Frost anchors the pack, with Tom Wright, Corey Toole and Andy Muirhead providing backline firepower. Ryan Lonergan and Tane Edmed will need to control field position — the Brumbies cannot trade blows with this Hurricanes attack in Wellington.
Key Matchups
The Brumbies' only genuine edge is the lineout — Frost and Neville are as good as any pairing in Super Rugby, and the rolling maul is McKellar's calling card. Everywhere else the Hurricanes have the beating of them, and the Jordie Barrett factor is decisive — his goal-kicking, line-breaking and distribution have been the engine of that 40-points-per-game attack. The Brumbies' path is narrow: win the territory battle through Edmed's boot, force the Hurricanes to play out of their own 22, turn penalties into points, and hope the maul yields a try or two. The moment this becomes a broken-field shootout, the Hurricanes' back three will run away with it.
Match Forecast
The scorecard lands at +12, driven by home advantage, backline quality and a venue record that's borderline embarrassing for the Brumbies — no win in Wellington since 2014, four straight losses here by an average of 27. Hurricanes at Sky Stadium in 2026 is a different beast to Hurricanes on the road: 44 points a game at home, zero home defeats, and a Jordie Barrett-anchored attack that produced 42 on the Blues and 52 on the Reds within a fortnight. The Chiefs loss was a wake-up, not a decline — this is a team back on its patch, against an opponent that's lost three of its last four.
The Brumbies can win this, but only via the blueprint that undid the Hurricanes in Hamilton: turn it into a territory-and-set-piece slog, starve Barrett of front-foot ball, and force errors in the Hurricanes' 22. Frost and Neville at lineout time is a genuine weapon, and if Edmed's boot finds the corners the maul can produce 7-pointers. The problem — the Brumbies haven't strung together 80 disciplined minutes at home for a month, and now they need to do it in Wellington coming off a chastening 33–28 loss to the Drua. Expect them to compete for 50 minutes before the Hurricanes pull clear through their back three.
Hurricanes by 15+ at Sky Stadium — the Brumbies' Wellington hoodoo continues, and the table leaders extend the gap on the Australian chasing pack.