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Barrett-less Hurricanes make 11 changes for Western Force
Hurricanes coach Jason Holland has heavily rotated his squad ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific quarter-finals, making 11 changes to the team that ran out 45-22 winners against the Rebels last weekend.
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The Hurricanes will travel to Perth to take on the Western Force this Saturday and will have to make do without talisman Jordie Barrett who, alongside Holland, has remained in New Zealand due to the flu, while captain Ardie Savea makes his return via the bench.
The Wellingtonians will also have All Blacks hookers Dane Coles and Asafo Aumua back on deck this week after the two were late scratchings from last week’s victory.
Up front, Coles will combine with Pouri Rakete-Stones and Owen Franks in a new trio while James Blackwell and Justin Sangster will partner up in the second row.
Du’Plessis Kirifi is the only player to hold his spot in the loose forward trio with 2022 debutant Caleb Delany taking over on the blindside flank from Blake Gibson, who drops to the bench, and Brayden Iose making his first appearance on the comeback from injury after last featuring in the Hurricanes’ loss to Moana Pasifika in late March.
TJ Perenara maintains his spot at halfback and will once again captain the side while Aidan Morgan earns his fourth start in as many weeks in the No 10 jersey.
In the midfield, Billy Proctor will fill Barrett’s absent jersey and will partner Bailyn Sullivan – who will make his seventh start in eight matches.
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The outside backs have received a complete refresh for this weekend, with Josh Moorby (who was a late call-up onto the left wing for Salesi Rayasi last weekend) taking over from Ruben Love at fullback, Rayasi reclaiming his spot in the No 11 jersey and Wes Goosen named on the right wing.
Aumua, Xavier Numia, Tevita Mafileo, Blake Gibson and Savea will cover the forwards from the bench while Jamie Booth, Jackson Garden-Bachop and Teihorangi Walden will do the same for the backs, with Walden making his first appearance since the rematch with Moana Pasifika in April.
“We’re pleased to see Brayden return from injury at number 8 as he was playing great rugby before he broke his wrist. Ardie and Blake will be massive in the back half of the game for us,” said Holland.
“In the backs, Sullivan, Goosen, Rayasi and Booth have all recovered from illness and will be desperate to take their opportunities on Saturday. We are confident they will do a good job,” said Holland.
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“It’s been a crazy few weeks with flu going through our camp and we have some boys that couldn’t travel. We have built some excellent depth and have an exciting 23 for Saturday night in Perth.”
Saturday’s match between the Hurricanes and Western Force is set to kick off at 8:00pm AWST (midnight in New Zealand) on Saturday night and is the fourth game of a quadruple-header, which kicks off with the Drua taking on the Chiefs in Fiji.
Should the Drua trip up the Chiefs, the Hurricanes could jump in fourth spot on the overall ladder with a win over the Force, earning themselves a home quarter-final. A loss, on the other hand, could see the Hurricanes drop to sixth if the Waratahs or Reds are able to upset the Blues or Crusaders in the final round of the Super Rugby Pacific regular season for 2022.
Hurricanes team to face the Western Force:
1. Pouri Rakete-Stones
2. Dane Coles
3. Owen Franks
4. James Blackwell
5. Justin Sangster
6. Caleb Delany
7. Du’Plessis Kirifi
8. Brayden Iose
9. TJ Perenara ©
10. Aidan Morgan
11. Salesi Rayasi
12. Billy Proctor
13. Bailyn Sullivan
14. Wes Goosen
15. Josh Moorby
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Asafo Aumua
17. Xavier Numia
18. Tevita Mafileo
19. Blake Gibson
20. Ardie Savea
21. Jamie Booth
22. Jackson Garden-Bachop
23. Teihorangi Walden
Unavailable for selection: Devan Flanders, Reed Prinsep, Pepesana Patafilo, Dominic Bird, Ruben Love, Alex Fidow, Tyrel Lomax, Isaia Walker-Leawere, TK Howden, Tyler Laubscher, Peter Umaga-Jensen, Jordie Barrett
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments