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'He's going to be someone special': The potentially game-changing selection that could chart the Hurricanes' future
The return of Dane Coles to the Hurricanes for Round 5 of Super Rugby Aotearoa has perhaps overshadowed another selection decision that could have a greater impact on the team in the long run.
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On Friday night, former Palmerston North Boys High student Ruben Love will wear the No 23 jersey for the Hurricanes in what will be his debut Super Rugby appearance.
While Coles is exactly the kind of player the Hurricanes need to get their season on track, with last year’s third-placers now having suffered three straight losses to kick the year off, there’s reason to believe that the All Blacks hooker could call time on his professional career at the end of the season.
21-year-old Love, on the other hand, is just getting started.
Having debuted for the Wellington Lions on the left wing in last year’s Mitre 10 Cup, Love is more than capable of covering all three outside back positions as well as first five-eighth.
His first appearance for the Hurricanes should have fans of the side salivating – especially given the plaudits lavished on Love by another product of the Manawatu region, All Blacks midfielder Ngani Laumape.
“He’s one that I’ve been excited to see get an opportunity,” Laumape said following Wednesday’s team naming. “I saw him last year and obviously the work he’s done in the off-season, he’s a special kid. I really believe he’s going to be someone special.
“It’s really awesome to see another person come out of Palmy Boys. He’s really competitive, we were just competing hard-out in the gym just before so he makes me better and hopefully I can make him better.
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“[As a professional player], you watch a lot of footy and when I watch him, he’s got something special about him. He’s got a lot of razzle, a lot of X-factor. Really excited to see him go.”
It’s difficult to say for sure where Love will slot in on Friday, with Hurricanes coach Jason Holland indicating that they currently see the young playmaker as an outside back, first and foremost.
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“He’s a talented young kid who can play anywhere in the backline,” Holland said. “We see him at the moment as an outside back who can cover 10 so who knows where that will end up but at the moment that’s where we see him.
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“We signed him last year for the long-term so we know the talent he has. He’s been really diligent around his pre-season and what he’s done training-wise … He’s got a really clear understanding of how we want to play and what we do now and hopefully can bring his own little flavour off the bench and give us something a little bit different.”
Regular No 10 Jackson Garden-Bachop is set to have surgery on his Achilles, ruling him out for up to nine months, which means the Hurricanes have lost both of their No 10 options from their initial squad after Simon Hickey went down during the pre-season.
Orbyn Leger will start at first five on Friday while Jordie Barrett is an option in the pivotal position, as is Taranaki’s Dan Waite, who’s been called into the squad as injury cover. Love also has experience in the role and Holland indicated that wherever the young utility slots in against the Highlanders, he’ll likely have the chance to show off his playmaking wares.
Love himself has indicated that while he’s more comfortable wearing No 15 at this stage in his career, he’s also happy to play at flyhalf if needed.
“I think I played everywhere in the backline except halfback throughout high school, at some point in time,” Love previously told The XV. “That didn’t bother me. I wasn’t too worried about where I was playing at high school, it was what was better for the team.
“The roles and the principles of both 10 and 15 are much the same. Just, I guess, the positioning on some of the plays and having a bit more freedom to express yourself with ball in hand and stuff like that are the kind of attributes I see in a fullback’s game. Both positions have the same principles.
New Zealand certainly isn’t in the same position it was in 2015, when any one of half a dozen pivot options could have been trusted to wear a black jersey and guide the team home, but we could be on the cusp of a similarly golden era. @TomVinicombe ?? https://t.co/uLpGoZ3Puj
— RugbyPass+ (@RugbyPassPlus) March 4, 2021
“I see myself more in a fullback, outside back kind of role. Going through club, I was playing first five but at the moment I’m not too hung up on where I’m at. I’m just trying to continue to develop my skills all the time and in the future, if I have to try and solidify one, then I’ll deal with that at the time. At the moment, I’m just trying to be an all-round player and be versatile, be able to go anywhere. But I like fullback personally, just because you have more time, more space.”
Of course, with 24-year-old Barrett also preferring the fullback role, Love’s opportunities may be limited in the future, unless he’s willing to take the reins in his second-choice position.
The top two Super Rugby Aotearoa teams will qualify for the grand final and, given their results to date, the Hurricanes will need to sharply and significantly improve their performances if they’re to have any hope of playing in the title match.
Realistically, however, their chances of earning any silverware are slim to none, unless the Blues have a sudden slump in form.
That presents Holland with the opportunity to build towards a brighter future – and that might mean employing Love, a potential long-term option in the No 10 jersey, at first five-eighth.
Friday night’s match kicks off at 7:05pm NZT and will be broadcast live and on-demand on RugbyPass for subscribers who hold a Super Rugby Aotearoa season pass.
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
10 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
10 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
10 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments