Eleven wins, three losses, a home semi-final won by 37 points, and then eighty minutes in a Wellington gale that nobody in Chiefs colours will want to watch again.

That was 2026. Here is the whole season, game by game.

A note on player of the match: SANZAAR did not run a per-match award in 2026, so there is no official man of the match for the regular season. Where we name a standout below, that is the match report's judgement and ours, not an official award. The one exception is the final, which did have a published award.

The season at a glance

| | | |---|---| | Head coach | Jono Gibbes (first season) | | Captain | Luke Jacobson | | Ladder | 2nd, 11 wins 3 losses, 51 points | | Points | 515 for, 325 against | | Tries | 75 for, 49 against | | Finals | Beat Reds 46-24, beat Crusaders 49-12, lost final 5-60 |

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The regular season

Round 1: Blues 15, Chiefs 19 (Eden Park, 14 Feb)

A defensive arm-wrestle settled four minutes from time. Tupou Vaa'i got the season's first try, Samisoni Taukei'aho levelled from a rolling maul, and replacement halfback Cortez Ratima backed up a Samipeni Finau break to sprint clear at 76 minutes. Of note: four Chiefs debuts, Kyren Taumoefolau, Kyle Brown, Benet Kumeroa and Tepaea Cook-Savage. Gibbes on them: "When the team was announced there was a big roar for the debutants and there's a recognition that it is a special time for them."

Round 2: Highlanders 23, Chiefs 26 (Forsyth Barr, 21 Feb)

An eighth straight win over the Highlanders, and a narrow one. Taukei'aho scored twice from close range, but the pick was Leroy Carter's long-range effort after Quinn Tupaea took a quick lineout drop-out and set him free. Of note: played amid a tribute to Highlanders prop Angus Ta'avao following the death of his son Leo.

Round 3: Chiefs 33, Crusaders 43 (FMG Stadium Waikato, 28 Feb)

The one that got away. The Chiefs raced to 21-7, including a 95-metre try started by Carter on his own line and finished by Etene Nanai-Seturo, a genuine try of the year contender. Then the Crusaders scored 36 unanswered points. Of note: tempers flared in the tunnel at halftime.

Round 4: Chiefs 57, Moana Pasifika 24 (FMG Stadium Waikato, 6 Mar)

Damian McKenzie's season debut after missing the opening rounds for the birth of his child, and he ran the show. Leroy Carter scored a hat-trick. McKenzie produced a freakish try-saver, then broke multiple tackles to set up Emoni Narawa. Of note: Kyle Brown scored with his first touch off the bench.

Round 5: bye

Round 6: Brumbies 33, Chiefs 24 (GIO Stadium, 20 Mar)

Led by 17 with 24 minutes left and lost. Liam Coombes-Fabling scored twice in the first half, McKenzie added a third, then the Brumbies scored three tries in just over ten minutes and Corey Toole ran the length of the field at 78 minutes to finish it. Of note: James Slipper became the most-capped Super Rugby player of all time, 203 games, with a guard of honour from both teams.

Round 7: Force 14, Chiefs 24 (HBF Park, 28 Mar)

A grinding win in wet Perth, played as a cyclone made landfall in Western Australia. The Force levelled at 14-14 just before the hour, but the Chiefs scored next and then held on a man down for the last quarter. Standout: Luke Jacobson, who scored and led the shift at 14 men.

Round 8: Chiefs 42, Waratahs 14 (FMG Stadium Waikato, 4 Apr)

Never in doubt at 24-7 by halftime. Taumoefolau pounced on a loose kick to open the scoring and got a second at the death; Tupaea scored twice. Of note: Waratahs captain Matt Philip afterwards: "We can't have the Chiefs, who are such a good attacking side, living in our 22."

Round 9: Moana Pasifika 17, Chiefs 62 (Rotorua, 11 Apr)

The biggest win of the season, 26-0 up at the break, and a record night for one man. RECORD: Damian McKenzie became the Chiefs' all-time leading try scorer, passing Sitiveni Sivivatu with his 43rd franchise try and finishing on 44. He passed 1,500 Super Rugby points in the same game.

Round 10: Chiefs 22, Hurricanes 17 after extra time (FMG Stadium Waikato, 18 Apr)

The match of the season. The Hurricanes led 12-3 at halftime and 17-10 late before a Chiefs counterattack, Carter sprinting past halfway and finding Daniel Sinkinson, levelled it. McKenzie's long shot to win it in regulation fell short.

Into Super Point, 2026's golden-point extra time. McKenzie broke into the 22, his drop goal attempt was charged down by Warner Dearns, which played everyone onside, and Wallace Sititi powered over four minutes into extra time. Of note: sent the Chiefs top of the ladder and ended a five-game Hurricanes winning run.

Round 11: Chiefs 42, Drua 22 (One NZ Stadium, Christchurch, 26 Apr)

A bonus-point win helped along by two Drua goal-line mishaps, including a fullback grubbering for himself in his own in-goal. Of note: Isaac Hutchinson made his debut.

Round 12: bye

Round 13: Reds 21, Chiefs 31 (Suncorp Stadium, 8 May)

Scrappy and whistle-heavy, the penalty count 12-5 against the Reds. With the margin at three, the Chiefs took a scrum against 14 men and Wallace Sititi barged over untouched at 79 minutes. Taukei'aho scored two rolling-maul tries. Of note: Reds captain Fraser McReight on two contentious TMO calls: "There were some tough ones out there tonight for sure."

Round 14: Chiefs 42, Highlanders 12 (FMG Stadium Waikato, 15 May)

Comfortable, but costly. A yellow card to Tomás Lavanini triggered the Chiefs surge, and Kyle Brown finished a freakish Taumoefolau offload well after fulltime. Of note: Damian McKenzie was knocked out with 11 minutes to go by an errant boot, ruling him out of the following week.

Round 15: Crusaders 36, Chiefs 32 (One NZ Stadium, 22 May)

The third and final loss, without McKenzie. David Havili flipped the field with a 50:22 from inside his own 22 and then scored the winner with four minutes left. The Chiefs nearly stole it after the siren. Of note: this defeat became the turning point of the season. Jacobson addressed the team afterwards, and they did not lose again until the final.

Round 16: Chiefs 59, Blues 34 (FMG Stadium Waikato, 30 May)

Into the finals with momentum. The Blues led 10-0, the Chiefs scored 19 unanswered and then piled on 40 second-half points. Sinkinson scored a double. Of note: a fifth straight home win at FMG Stadium Waikato.

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The finals

Qualifying final: Chiefs 46, Reds 24 (FMG Stadium Waikato, 6 Jun)

Only five points in it at halftime before McKenzie, back from concussion, took over with two second-half tries, the first from a quick tap that caught the Reds napping. Of note, and it mattered later: Wallace Sititi suffered a sickening head knock early and went to hospital. Scans found no issues but a mandatory 12-day stand-down followed, and he did not appear in the matchday 23 for either the semi-final or the final. McKenzie afterwards: "We had to prepare really well this week and I thought we did a great job at that and I'm proud of our boys' ability in sticking to our guns."

Semi-final: Chiefs 49, Crusaders 12 (FMG Stadium Waikato, 12 Jun)

The performance of the season. Forty-two points in the first half, 42-5 at the break. Lalakai Foketi carved the Crusaders open repeatedly and Taumoefolau scored twice inside 16 minutes. McKenzie was 7 from 7 off the tee. RECORDS: the most points the Chiefs have ever scored against the Crusaders in a half, their biggest ever win over the Crusaders, and their first finals win over them since 2013. The Crusaders had been unbeaten in their previous seven semi-finals.

GRAND FINAL: Hurricanes 60, Chiefs 5 (Hnry Stadium, Wellington, 20 Jun)

34,500 in, a Wellington gale, and it was over early. Josh Moorby scored inside seven minutes, Ruben Love stepped the cover for a second, and the Chiefs twice put restarts dead. They trailed 29-0 at halftime, the biggest halftime lead in a Super Rugby final. Naitoa Ah Kuoi's 75th-minute try at least spared them being the first side held scoreless in a decider.

Man of the match: Ruben Love (Hurricanes), the only published award of the Chiefs' season.

RECORD: the 55-point margin is the biggest ever win in a Super Rugby final, surpassing the Bulls' 61-17 over the Chiefs in 2009.

Gibbes was straight about it: "Look, I think you look at the scoreboard, there's no controversy. The better team won, the team that mastered these conditions, we found them extremely difficult." And: "They made all their luck. We were inaccurate. They were precise, and that's a fair reflection for tonight."

Jacobson: "We didn't rally fast enough. They got their tails up and played some awesome footy."

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The season in the round

Quinn Tupaea was named 2026 Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year, tied on 43 votes and winning on the tiebreaker. He and Samisoni Taukei'aho both made the Team of the Year.

Leading the way: Damian McKenzie 135 points, second in the whole competition. Taukei'aho 12 tries, third overall, with Taumoefolau on 10 and Tupaea on 8.

This was the Chiefs' seventh Super Rugby final and their fourth in a row, which puts them second on the all-time list for final appearances behind only the Crusaders. They have won two, in 2012 and 2013.

The hard truth is that a season with eleven wins, a Player of the Year, a record win over the Crusaders and a Super Point classic gets remembered for eighty minutes in the wind. That is finals rugby. As Gibbes put it that night, "in a few hours we get to process what I think's been a really enjoyable season for the group."

He was right about the season. The last game just came at the wrong time.