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Hurricanes — news, coverage & facts — IJR

New era: since 2003

In spite of reports that Colin Cooper, the then Crusaders assistant-coach, had said he was "not yet ready to jump ship" and wanted to stay with the South Island franchise, the Hurricanes were able to lure him away from the champions and made him their head coach for the 2003 season.

Cooper, along with newly appointed captain Tana Umaga, helped to mould the inconsistent and ill-disciplined Hurricanes into one of the top teams in the competition. 2003 was the beginning of a new era for the Hurricanes as they reached the semi-finals for just the second time in their history on the back of a strong seven-game winning streak mid-season. Their success came partly with the break-out year for mid-fielder Ma'a Nonu, his strong performances and partnership with captain Tana Umaga pushed out former All Black Pita Alatini and saw him score six tries en route to the All Black squad. The team also benefited from the steady hand of David Holwell at first five-eighth and an improving and mobile forward pack.

Hurricanes stalwart Christian Cullen would leave New Zealand shores for Irish club Munster after his omission from the All Blacks 2003 World Cup squad, despite scoring eight tries during the season.

All Black great Jonah Lomu was left out of the 2004 squad, due to a life-threatening illness that would eventually result in a kidney transplant. He would never again play for the Hurricanes.

The majority of the team was retained for 2005. including new centre Conrad Smith. The Hurricanes came back in 2005 to the form that saw them make the playoffs two years prior. Former New Zealand Colt Flyhalf Jimmy Gopperth was the real "find" of the season, scoring 139 points, which helped offset the departure of David Holwell to Ireland. The Hurricanes had tried to sign Australian playmaker Brock James, who had starred the previous NPC season for Taranaki and the Blues, and young star Luke McAlister indicated that he would like to play in Wellington. With both Daniel Carter and Aaron Mauger at the Crusaders capable of playing first five-eighth the team also made an attempt to lure Andrew Mehrtens to Wellington, without success.

In 2006 two new teams entered the competition, the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs from South Africa and the Perth-based Western Force from Australia, creating the Super 14. Rodney So'oialo was appointed captain of the Hurricanes to succeed former All Black captain Tana Umaga. The team won all but four matches. They made their first Super Rugby final but lost to the Crusaders in a match played under thick fog. Following the match there was an incident in a nightclub involving Chris Masoe and Tana Umaga. The club finances benefitted from on-pitch success, with NZ$1.36 million profit on its 2006 turnover of NZ$7.44 million.

The Hurricanes returned to the semi-finals in both 2008 and 2009, however were unable to capture the same success in subsequent seasons. 2011 saw the arrival of Mark Hammett as coach and the departure of Andrew Hore, Ma'a Nonu and Piri Weepu.

The Hurricanes finished 11th in the 2013 Super Rugby season.

2015 saw the Hurricanes finish first in the regular season, topping the table with 66 points and a win–loss record of 14–2 in round robin play. The Hurricanes picked up the New Zealand Conference trophy after beating the Highlanders. After beating the Brumbies in the semi-final, the Hurricanes lost the final against the Highlanders 21–14. It was the final Super Rugby match for Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu and Jeremy Thrush – all Hurricanes that have played over 100 caps.

On 8 December 2015, Rugby World Cup-winning hooker Dane Coles was named captain for the 2016 season. Rugby World Cup-winning halfback TJ Perenara was named as vice-captain.

2016 was a big year for the Hurricanes finishing first overall on the points table, despite sitting in 7th going into the final round of the regular season. This saw them go into the quarter-finals against the Sharks winning 41–0 at Wellington Regional Stadium. They carried on to the semi-finals playing the Chiefs and winning 25–9 at Wellington Regional Stadium. The Hurricanes played the Lions in the final, winning the game 20–3 at Wellington Regional Stadium. This was the first time in Super Rugby history that the Hurricanes won the title. It was Victor Vito's final and 100th game for the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes looked to win another championship title in 2017, taking out 12 of 15 games and making it to the quarter-finals against the Brumbies, which the Hurricanes won 16–35. However, in the semi-finals they were defeated by the Lions, who they defeated in the 2016 final.

In 2018, the Hurricanes won 11 of 16 round robin matches, which put them into the quarter-finals against a very tough Chiefs side. The Hurricanes narrowly defeated the Chiefs 32–31. But once again, the Hurricanes failed to make it past the semi-finals, losing to the Crusaders 30–12.

2019 saw the Hurricanes win 12, draw 1 and lose 3. This result took them to the quarter-finals and they faced the Bulls, which was tight but the Hurricanes won 35–28. Unfortunately, the Hurricanes lost to the Crusaders again in a tight battle in Christchurch (30–26).

After 7 rounds of 2020, the Hurricanes finished 3rd in the NZ conference and 6th overall. The competition was suspended after 7 rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a domestic Super Rugby competition was formed in New Zealand called Super Rugby Aotearoa, which kicked off in June 2020. The Hurricanes finished 3rd overall, winning 5 and losing 3. A notable moment from the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Aotearoa 2020 was that they ended the Crusaders' 18 match home winning streak, defeating them 32–34 in Round 7.

Super Rugby Aotearoa 2021 hasn't been so fortunate to the Hurricanes. They have only won one match, which was a 30–19 victory over the Highlanders in Dunedin.