There’s a reason the Canes train is steaming this season – and it’s not why you might think.
Behind the tries, the set plays, the razzle, pop and punishing defence, the Hurricanes methodically mapped out targeting this year to chase their first championship in a decade.
Building a roster capable of claiming a title doesn’t happen by chance.
Every team need a degree of luck to keep their best players on the park, but combining the crucial commodities of experience, maturity, depth, continuity and X-factor is no fluke occurrence.
Clark Laidlaw assumed charge of the Hurricanes from Jason Holland three years ago. It was a largely seamless, internal passing of the baton that instigated a strategic plan to retain as many of the established squad as possible, with a view to flourishing this year.
Anyone witnessing the Hurricanes this season has marvelled at Fehi Fineanganofo’s try-scoring feats and Devan Flanders’ compelling form.
Those individuals are, however, a byproduct of one key overlooked ingredient behind the Hurricanes’ surge – their retention.
If there’s one stat that bottles why the Hurricanes are genuine title contenders, it’s that they had three roster changes – Jordie Barrett returning from Leinster, Josh Moorby back from France and Warner Dearns arriving from Japan – in their 38-man squad.
Such rare stability allows year-on-year growth.
Of course, all teams seek success every season. This year, though, was long circled as the one in which the Hurricanes should peak.
“We’ve definitely had our eye to that around recruitment and retention,” Laidlaw said. “There’s been a lot of work and thought put into trying to prepare a team over two or three years and trying to get to this point where performances are reasonably consistent. The difference between our good and bad feels a lot different than it did individually and collectively, which is very helpful.”
Scroll through the Hurricanes roster and their depth of talent becomes clear.
Prop Xavier Numia, enjoying a season that has him on the cusp of a maiden All Blacks call-up, hooker Asafo Aumua and co-captain Du’Plessis Kirifi, who celebrated his 100th match at the Super Round in Christchurch, debuted around the same time to forge strong off-field bonds.
With Ruben Love notching 50 caps last weekend and Peter Lakai not far off joining him, two of New Zealand rugby’s brightest talents are no longer rookies finding their feet.
This Hurricanes squad have forged some shared skin in the game. They’ve lived the highs of finishing the regular season first in Laidlaw’s maiden season at the helm. The downs, the pain, of bombing out in the last two years of the playoffs.
These players no longer need to be led to water. They’ve been around long enough to grasp the importance of consistent preparation. They learn from the good and the bad. Week to week, they own the details which translates to playing with the freedom and clarity.
“One thing I learned through the Olympic programme working with the sevens, we were all about peaking over a four-year period. To win big pinnacle events, you need to create shared experience,” Laidlaw said.
“I’m not sure age is the determining factor but with young men, when they get to their mid-20s, their adult brain kicks in; they start settling down, making good decisions on and off the field.
“When I first started this job, you could see we had good men and if we could keep them together for the next two or three years, we shouldn’t be far away.
“The Crusaders are almost the only team in world rugby that’s been able to consistently win. Building a team and a group is the route we had to go down.”
The depth the Hurricanes have developed was evident during the Super Round when they rotated their entire starting front row – already missing All Blacks tighthead Tyrel Lomax through injury – in their 45-12 demolition job on the ACT Brumbies.
This from a team once widely regarded as boasting rock-star backs and stacked loose forwards but with a soft tight-five underbelly.
“Over the last couple of years, those props have had genuine opportunities to improve and compete. Our coaching team is underestimated,” Laidlaw said.
“You look at Jamie MacKintosh, he’s an outstanding forwards/scrum coach. The work he’s done to improve Xavier, Tevita [Mafileo], Pasilio [Tosi], Siale Lauaki in an area where the Hurricanes have traditionally been a bit thin, all of a sudden it’s a real strength.”
Other than halfback, where the drop-off from Cam Roigard is significant, and first five-eighths following the season-ending losses of Brett Cameron and Harry Godfrey, the Hurricanes can call on at least two deep in most areas.
Moulding those options takes time.
The Hurricanes are also well aware their roster will alter drastically next year. With 10 players believed to be leaving – and assistant coach Holland switching to lead the Blues – there is a pressing urgency to capitalise on the peak of their three-year evolution.
Next year, Fineanganofo, locks Isaia Walker-Leawere, Dearns and Caleb Delany, standout loose forward Flanders, talented midfielder Riley Higgins, prop Pouri Rakete-Stones and others may be gone.
Filling 10 spots is infinitely harder than three. Such an imminent exodus enhances the need for the Hurricanes to strike this season.
“It’s obvious at the minute the New Zealand teams are losing a lot players over the next year. That’s a natural cycle in the modern game,” Laidlaw said. “It’s going to thin out across the country. I’m not sure that’ll have a bearing on whether we’re successful or not but it does focus those boys’ attention, because they know it’s their last shot.
“I see that in Isaia, he’s finally matured into a fulltime professional athlete. It definitely feels like there’s a few more leaving than in recent years. Certainly, here it is. We were conscious we were ripe for the picking. We’ve got a lot of 26-, 27-, 28-year-olds that are not tied to New Zealand because they’re not All Blacks. They’re the players overseas clubs can target.”
The Hurricanes are the first to admit they have achieved nothing yet this year. Their failure to close out a recent away defeat to the Chiefs, and a scrappy home victory last weekend against the injury-hit Crusaders, prove they are far from the finished product.
This season should be different, though. Maturity brings calm. Cohesion evokes clarity. And the scars of four straight failed finals campaigns remain fresh for many to carry into this post-season.
With the world-class Roigard fit, Love growing in confidence as he builds on his 19 starts at No 10 and Barrett reinstated in the midfield, the pivotal playmaking axis is in place, while the forward pack consistently deliver the desired platform.
This year’s Hurricanes boast talent, depth, leadership, coaching smarts and firepower in spades. They hurt teams through offloading and ball-carrying power, while their front-rowers are as adept as loose forwards at snaffling turnovers at the breakdown.
All that remains is putting it together when it matters most.
“It’s still all ahead of us this year. Time will tell if it’s enough to get us across the line,” Laidlaw said.
“We’ve got to make sure we’ve got the game to cope under pressure. Getting our big rocks ticked off has been our biggest area of growth. We’re not looking for anything shiny or fluffy. We feel there’s areas of the game that are non-negotiable. Maybe it’s taken us a couple of years to understand that as coaches and the playing group. We understand playoffs are tight and often played in different conditions. The attitude will be to continue playing how we want but understand the momentum swings.”
Shared experience and collective growth, inspired by a clearly defined retention plan, is fuelling this year’s Canes train surge.
As significant roster changes loom, though, the time is now to fulfil their strategic vision.
Liam Napier is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast.