{"id":484394,"date":"2026-06-18T22:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/484394\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T22:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:26:09","slug":"super-rugby-pacific-all-you-need-to-know-as-hurricanes-host-chiefs-in-grand-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/484394\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Rugby Pacific: All you need to know as Hurricanes host Chiefs in grand final"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the Hurricanes, this is their fourth grand final, having lost in 2006 to the Crusaders and 2015 to the Highlanders before beating the Lions<\/a> the following year to capture their lone Super Rugby title.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs are contesting their seventh and they are out to end years of hurt. They lost in 2009 to the Bulls before going back-to-back in 2012-13, beating the Sharks and Brumbies under Dave Rennie. However, they have lost their last four finals in 2021<\/a>, 2023<\/a>, and 2025<\/a> to the Crusaders and 2024<\/a> to the Blues.<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes head into the final as favourites; however, the Chiefs have won seven of their last 10 Super Rugby Pacific meetings, including an extra-time 22-17 win when they met in round 10 this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Squads<\/p>\n

The biggest team news comes from the Chiefs, who remain without All Blacks flanker Wallace Sititi as he continues to go through the concussion protocols<\/a> following his nasty head knock against the Reds.<\/p>\n

The news that Sititi remains sidelined does bring into question if he will be fit enough to make the All Blacks squad which is named on Monday.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve also made two injury-enforced changes to their starting side, with centre Lalakai Foketi, who has signed with Welsh club Ospreys during the week, ruled out with a calf injury, while fullback Isaac Hutchinson has succumbed to a knee injury.<\/p>\n

Their spots in the starting side have been taken by Kyle Brown and Leroy Carter respectively, while Reon Paul joins the bench.<\/p>\n

\"LeroyLeroy Carter will start on the right wing for the Chiefs. Photo \/ SmartFrame \/ Action Press x<\/p>\n

\u201cYou work hard to be given this opportunity and it is satisfying to be in this position, but we also know there is one more game to win,\u201d Chiefs coach Jono Gibbes said.<\/p>\n

\u201dThe Hurricanes have been the pace setters throughout the season and it will be a terrific challenge playing them at their home, but it is one we are looking forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying in front of a full house is always stimulating and we know there will be plenty of Gallagher Chiefs supporters in the crowd, ringing their cowbells loudly.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Hurricanes, lock Caleb Delany has been ruled out with concussion; however, they do welcome back Devan Flanders from a head knock.<\/p>\n

Isaia Walker-Leawere takes Delany\u2019s spot at lock, while Flanders starts at blindside flanker, demoting Brad Shields to the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a hugely exciting week and game ahead. A home final in front of a sold-out stadium, it doesn\u2019t get much better than that,\u201d Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw said.<\/p>\n

\"DevanDevan Flanders has signed to play in Japan after the Super Rugby Pacific season. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve prepared really well at the start of the week. We\u2019ve got no question about what\u2019s coming from the Chiefs and how good they are. We know it\u2019s going to be a tough battle, but it\u2019s something we\u2019re really excited about.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great news that we can welcome back Devan Flanders and pick a really settled team at this stage of the season. That\u2019s something we\u2019re really grateful for.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a massive weekend, we\u2019re hugely excited and can\u2019t wait to get into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There will be an intriguing battle between wingers Fehi Fineanganofo and Josh Moorby to see who if one of them can claim the Super Rugby try scoring record.<\/p>\n

Fineanganofo is currently equal with Joe Roff and Ben Lam for the Super Rugby Pacific try scoring record, while Moorby is just one behind.<\/p>\n

Hurricanes: 1. Xavier Numia, 2. Asafo Aumua, 3. Pasilio Tosi, 4. Isaia Walker-Leawere, 5. Warner Dearns, 6. Devan Flanders, 7. Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi (co-c), 8. Peter Lakai, 9. Cam Roigard, 10. Ruben Love, 11. Fehi Fineanganofo, 12. Jordie Barrett (co-c), 13. Billy Proctor, 14. Josh Moorby, 15. Callum Harkin.<\/p>\n

Bench: 16. Raymond Tuputupu, 17. Siale Lauaki, 18. Tyrel Lomax, 19. Brad Shields, 20. Brayden Iose, 21. Ereatara Enari, 22. Jone Rova, 23. Kini Naholo.<\/p>\n

Chiefs: 1. Ollie Norris, 2. Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho, 3. Sione Ahio, 4. Josh Lord, 5. Tupou Vaa\u2019i (vc), 6. Samipeni Finau, 7. Luke Jacobson (c), 8. Simon Parker, 9. Cortez Ratima, 10. Damian McKenzie, 11. Kyren Taumoefolau, 12. Quinn Tupaea (vc), 13. Kyle Brown, 14. Leroy Carter, 15. Liam Coombes-Fabling.<\/p>\n

Bench: 16. Brodie McAlister, 17. Jared Proffit, 18. George Dyer, 19. Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 20. Kaylum Boshier, 21. Xavier Roe, 22. Josh Jacomb, 23. Reon Paul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the Hurricanes, this is their fourth grand final, having lost in 2006 to the Crusaders and 2015…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5263,806,17909,5904,10813,12022,49155,78,6036,5971,111,139,69,13572,6327,213,313,61,52,197],"class_list":["post-484394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all","tag-as","tag-chiefs","tag-final","tag-grand","tag-host","tag-hurricanes","tag-in","tag-know","tag-need","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pacific","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-super","tag-to","tag-wellington","tag-you"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}