Cory Jane urges NZ Rugby to step in as All Blacks set to lose out on Super Rugby’s hottest prospect
Hurricanes wing Fehi Fineanganofo and NZ Rugby chair David Kirk.
All Blacks great and current Hurricanes coach Cory Jane has urged New Zealand Rugby to step in and stop in-form wing Fehi Fineanganofo from departing overseas.
The ‘Canes finisher is just 23 but he is set to head abroad later this year after signing a two-year deal with ambitious English side Newcastle Red Bulls.
Fineanganofo has shone for an outstanding Hurricanes side this year and is the top try-scorer in Super Rugby Pacific.
In All Blacks conversation
Had he not agreed a deal, the talented back would have certainly been in the All Blacks conversation with a possible Test debut in the Nations Championship.
However, as things stand, Fineanganofo has ruled himself out of the international reckoning, but Jane hopes that can change.
Asked by fellow former All Black, Israel Dagg, on Sport Nation’s Scotty and Izzy show what they need to do to keep him, the 43-year-old quipped: “Get some of your money out from that house that you’ve just sold to keep him here would be my first response.”
Jane then added: “New Zealand need to do something. They might not even look at him to be an All Black and then fair enough, let him go, but if they’re looking at him being an All Black, they’ve got to try and do something to get him out of his deal.
“He chose to go over there and he chose early, but he has his why – family and all that stuff – and he wants to provide, and that’s fair to him.
“[But] if New Zealand want him to stay…”
Fineanganofo had a good season for the Hurricanes in 2025, but he has moved up several levels this year, scoring a remarkable 15 tries in Super Rugby so far, and Jane believes that his desire to improve, to go alongside with his obvious natural talent, has been crucial in his progression.
Talent combined with the right attitude
“His burst, his ability to catch the ball and go, he’s strong and I think the best thing about him is that he just wants to learn,” he said.
“The amount of questions he asks, and I love players that I get to coach, especially outside backs, that just want to know who to look at, where to look, what set-ups do they look at knowing they can get into the right spots to make a play.
“He’s come so far with catching high balls. He didn’t really want to do that last year and now he loves it. Just his attention to detail, his want to get better.
“Like I said, his burst, there’s not many around that have a burst like him in terms of catching the ball and going.
“It’s unfortunate that he’s going but we’ve just got to enjoy the next few weeks.”
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Jane was then asked whether Fineanganofo still wants to leave given that people are talking him up as a potential international.
“I’m not too sure. I kind of leave him, it’s a decision that he made and I haven’t tried to sit there and go, ‘you need to get out of it’ or ‘you’re going to be an All Black now’ because what good is that going to do,” he said.
“I did, however, just look at him when he went into the changing room and said: ‘Well played’, and then said: ‘You might have to see if you can get out of that deal’, but that was it.”