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Hurricanes spring surprises in the forwards for Brumbies rematch
The Hurricanes will look to challenge the Brumbies up front this weekend in Canberra with coach Jason Holland naming a side capable of footing it with the best of the best at the set-piece and the breakdown.
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The returns of Ardie Savea and Jordie Barrett to the run-on side will be a huge boost for the Hurricanes – who suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of the Western Force last weekend – but it’s perhaps the selections of prop Owen Franks and flanker Blake Gibson that add the most intrigue to Saturday evening’s match.
All Black Tyrel Lomax has been the first-choice tighthead for much of the Super Rugby Pacific season but after getting outplayed and outsmarted by Waratahs counterpart Angus Bell three weeks ago, Holland has evidently opted to start with his strongest scrummager against a formidable Brumbies pack, and that means Franks – with over 150 Super Rugby caps and 100 tests to his name – gets the nod in the No 3 jersey.
Similarly, specialist openside flanker Gibson will run out in the No 6 jersey – alongside fellow exponents of the breakdown steal Du’Plessis Kirifi and Ardie Savea – with an eye to taking on the Brumbies at the tackle area.
Altogether, Holland has made six personnel changes to the starting line-up following last weekend’s match.
Dane Coles and Franks will be joined in the front row by Tevita Mafileo, in what will be just his second start of the campaign, while there’s plenty of X-factor on the bench in the form of Asafo Aumua, Pouri Rakete-Stones and Tyrel Lomax.
James Blackwell will make his 12th appearance of the year in the run-on side in the No 4 jersey and will partner the returning Isaia Walker-Leawere while utility forward Caleb Delany will cover the second row via the reserves.
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Gibson, Kirifi and Savea form a strong loose forward trio with wrecking ball Brayden Iose expected to add impact later in the match.
The well-oiled combination of TJ Perenara and Aidan Morgan will suit up for the fourth week in a row in the halves, with Jamie Booth and Ruben Love providing cover on the bench, while Jordie Barrett takes over in the No 12 jersey and Billy Proctor earns a start at outside centre in place of the unavailable Bailyn Sullivan.
In the back three, Julian Savea comes into the starting side in place of Wes Goosen, who drops to the bench, while Salesi Rayasi and Josh Moorby hold their spots from last week.
The Hurricanes were well and truly dealt to by the Brumbies earlier in the year, with the Brumbies leading for all but four minutes of their 42-25 victory over the Wellingtonians.
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Saturday night’s quarter-final – the last of the weekend – is set to kick off at 7:45pm AEST from GIO Stadium in Canberra.
Hurricanes: Josh Moorby, Julian Savea, Billy Proctor, Jordie Barrett, Salesi Rayasi, Aidan Morgan, TJ Perenara, Ardie Savea, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Blake Gibson, Isaia Walker-Leawere, James Blackwell, Owen Franks, Dane Coles, Tevita Mafileo. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Tyrel Lomax, Caleb Delany, Brayden Iose, Jamie Booth, Ruben Love, Wes Goosen.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
1 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’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
2 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.
3 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 comments