Born out of the advent of professional rugby at the end of 1995, nine New Zealand provincial rugby unions came together to form the Wellington Hurricanes for the start of the inaugural Super 12 competition in 1996. The Wellington, Taranaki, Manawatu, Hawke's Bay, East Coast, Poverty Bay, Wanganui, Wairarapa-Bush and Horowhenua-Kapiti unions joined forces to become the Hurricanes region. The new franchise was the largest of the five in New Zealand, representing 920,000 people.
The Hurricanes hosted the very first Super 12 match in 1996 against the Blues in Palmerston North and centre Alama Ieremia scored the competition's first try. Although the Hurricanes lost 28-36 and won just three of 11 matches in that first year against Transvaal, the Highlanders and the Chiefs, the foundations had been laid.
The second season in 1997 was the year the Hurricanes lit up the Super 12. Developing their own brand of 'ruck and run’ rugby they galloped into the semi-finals for the first time on the back of a series of exhilarating displays. These included big wins over the Bulls in New Plymouth and the Cheetahs and Highlanders in Wellington, while Christian Cullen and Tana Umaga scored 23 tries between them during the campaign. 30,400 people packed Athletic Park to see the team defeated narrowly by the Brumbies in the last round of the regular season, the team they missed out to in the semi-final a week later in Canberra.
Captain Hurricane joined as the Hurricanes' mascot in 1998 and the side picked up from where they left off the previous season with three consecutive wins, before eventually slipping to eighth. The first two of these victories were in Cape Town and Pretoria, meaning the Hurricanes became the first team to come away from South Africa with the maximum 10 points. They also became the first New Zealand team to defeat the Brumbies in Canberra, a match in which they also lost their founding captain Mark 'Bull' Allen to a career-ending neck injury.
After slipping to tenth in 1999 and flattering to deceive under the new motto 'Expect the Unexpected', 2000's eighth-placed finish was hugely disappointing after spending much of the competition among the frontrunners. New coaches Graham Mourie and Bryan Willams, a new waterfront stadium in Wellington, a name change to the Hurricanes from the 'Wellington' Hurricanes and the signing of All Blacks superstar Jonah Lomu all boded well for a change in fortunes. They opened the season with a 40-23 win over the Sharks at the new stadium and won six from their first ten matches, including a 28-22 win over the eventual champions, the Crusaders. But missing Lomu, Umaga and prop Gordon Slater, they lost their last two matches of the season in South Africa to the Stormers and Bulls and slipped from third to eighth in the last weekend of round-robin play.
With records of five wins and six losses in both 2001 and 2002, the Hurricanes finished ninth in each of these seasons, but then rebounded in 2003 to make the semi-finals for the first time since 1997. Taranaki and assistant Crusaders coach Colin Cooper took over the reins in 2003 and appointed Tana Umaga captain, a liaison that brought immediate success. Despite losing its first two games to the Crusaders in Christchurch and the Bulls in Napier, they came back to win seven in a row and qualify for the play-offs in third spot. Travelling away to play the Crusaders for the second time in the season, they were defeated 16-39 in the semi-final. Another positive move in 2003 was the team's relocation to a new permanent training base in Newtown in Wellington, while the team farewelled their record try scorer Christian Cullen (56 tries) to Ireland at he end of the season.
2004 wasn't to be a vintage year for the Hurricanes who finished eleventh with just four victories. Although if their 20-21 loss to the Sharks and 26-26 draw with the Blues the following week had turned out differently, then the team would have comfortably finished in mid-table.
This disappointment was followed by a stellar 2005. With a dozen new players in the squad, the Hurricanes won eight and lost three of their matches and reached the semi-finals of the last ever Rebel Sport Super 12, before its expansion to a 14-team competition. The team was unbeaten on its tour of Australia and South Africa and a successful new leadership structure was put in place that had a positive influence on the team environment and culture. Umaga became the first Hurricanes player to reach a century of appearances, celebrating a first-ever win over the Blues in his 100th game. Once again, though, the Hurricanes lost at the semi-final stage in Christchurch to the Crusaders.
2006 was the Hurricanes' best ever season, reaching the final of the first Rebel Sport Super 14. Under new captain Rodney So'oialo, the Hurricanes won eleven games from 15 played, with highlights being their first ever win at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria against the Bulls, wins in consecutive weeks over the Waratahs, including a 16-14 semi-final victory at Westpac Stadium, and the try scoring feats of right winger Lome Fa'atau, who led the competition with ten tries. Unfortunately the final against the Crusaders was ruined as a spectacle with a pall of mist descending on Jade Stadium in Christchurch. The Crusaders scored the game's only try to take the title 19-12. Long-serving first five-eighth David Holwell finally hung up his Hurricanes boots at the end of the campaign, after scoring a team record 676 points in his 76 matches from 1998-2004 and 2006.
Once more came the relative lows in 2007 after the highs of the previous season's success. They faced an uphill battle from the start, deprived of six All Blacks for the first seven rounds, held back as part of the Rugby World Cup 'conditioning programme' and finished in eighth place. The team did, however, achieve several excellent wins at Westpac Stadium, including a memorable defeat of eventual champions the Bulls. Umaga, lock Paul Tito, Fa'atau and lock/flanker Luke Andrews all played their final games for the Hurricanes together in the final outing of the season in Wellington against the Waratahs.
Which new player will have the biggest impact on the All Blacks in 2010?
