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Hurricanes team to play Reds in round one of Super Rugby Pacific
The Hurricanes are preparing for the first stop in their Australian tour, as they head to Townsville to take on the Queensland Reds in the DHL Super Rugby Pacific opener on Saturday.
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Head Coach Jason Holland has named his side for Saturday’s clash against the Reds, with two Hurricanes debutants included in the matchday 23.
In the front row, Dane Coles starts at hooker and is flanked by Wellington’s loosehead Xavier Numia and All Black legend, Owen Franks. Wellington hooker Asafo Aumua, and props Tevita Mafileo and All Black Tyrel Lomax will look to provide power late on.
James Blackwell starts at lock, alongside Hawke’s Bay’s Isaia Walker-Leawere. Wellington powerhouse Peter Lakai will make his Hurricanes debut at openside, linking up with blindside flanker Devan Flanders and Hurricanes captain, Ardie Savea, in rounding out the forward pack.
19-year-old, Lakai burst onto the scene during last year’s National Provincial Championship and was one of the driving forces behind Wellington’s unstoppable run to their first title in 21 years, lifting the Ranfurly Shield along the way.
“Peter performed really well in NPC and has carried on this fine form into the preseason. He has earned his spot through his preseason performances,” said Holland.
Cameron Roigard makes a start at halfback and will be partnered at first-five by Aidan Morgan, with Jamie Booth looking to provide impact off the bench.
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“There has been a great battle between Cam [Roigard] and Boothie [Jamie Booth] and both are looking really sharp. Cam has earned the starting spot, but Boothie finishing the last half an hour will be important,” said Holland.
In the midfield, Jordie Barrett starts at second-five, with Billy Proctor at centre. Josh Moorby starts at fullback and will look for support in the form of finishers Julian Savea and Salesi Rayasi.
Hawke’s Bay and New Zealand Under 20, Harry Godfrey will look to make his Hurricanes debut off the bench.
“Harry is maturing fast and had an excellent 40 minutes in the back end of our second preseason game, where he showed his game control and a good threat on the line.
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“We’ve got experienced midfielders and back three, who are great threats on attack but also, we expect them to make some good decisions and manage the game well.
“We’re expecting a physical Reds team, so the impact off the bench is going to be massive to winning the game,” said Holland.
The match will be televised live on Sky Sport.
Hurricanes team to take on the Reds:
1 Xavier Numia
2 Dane Coles
3 Owen Franks
4 James Blackwell
5 Isaia Walker-Leawere
6 Devan Flanders
7 Peter Lakai *
8 Ardie Savea©
9 Cameron Roigard
10 Aidan Morgan
11 Salesi Rayasi
12 Jordie Barrett
13 Billy Proctor
14 Julian Savea
15 Josh Moorby
Replacements:
16 Asafo Aumua
17 Tevita Mafileo
18 Tyrel Lomax
19 Caleb Delany
20 Du’Plessis Kirifi
21 Brayden Iose
22 Jamie Booth
23 Harry Godfrey *
*Denotes debut
Unavailable for selection: Ruben Love, Bailyn Sullivan, Daniel Sinkinson, Tyler Laubscher, Reed Prinsep, Peter Umaga-Jensen, Dan Sinkinson, Justin Sangster, Brett Cameron, TJ Perenara, Jacob Devery.
Via Press Release / Hurricanes
Comments on RugbyPass
I think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to comments