The path to the Hurricanes' second title does not go through Christchurch - Super Rugby 2019 Preview
Last year, for the fourth season in a row, the Hurricanes featured in a Super Rugby semi-final but for the second straight season that’s where they exited.
The Hurricanes’ second loss in Christchurch at the hands of the Crusaders signified the end of the Chris Boyd-era, the most successful in franchise history, but also well and truly put beyond doubt who the best side in New Zealand conference is.
Since featuring in the final in 2015 with a 14-2 record and then capturing a maiden title in 2016, the Hurricanes have quickly found a new adversary, one that has since overtaken them, playing second fiddle to the new Crusaders dynasty.
New head coach John Plumtree will look to change the balance of power by winning back the conference, after a 10-game winning streak last year the Hurricanes fell off down the stretch, conceding home-ground advantage by losing four of their last five.
If they are to capture a second title, home-field advantage in the playoffs is a must. In both seasons they reached the final under Boyd, they were the New Zealand conference winner.
The Crusaders have only lost three times in the last two years and two of those losses have been to the Hurricanes at the Caketin.
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How Plumtree uses his All Blacks, who have missed the whole pre-season, will be critical to planning the season. However, it is a question facing all the coaches of New Zealand franchises, a curveball that adds another challenge to overcome in the 2019 Super Rugby season.
Having been an assistant for the last four years under Boyd, Plumtree will be very familiar with the systems in place at the Hurricanes. Perhaps more important than this stability will be the need for the Hurricanes to continue to find ways to evolve to keep pace with the Crusaders.
The addition of assistant Carlos Spencer, one of the most creative attacking players of all time, may have just the ideas to do so.
The Hurricanes will be bolstered by the re-signing of captain Dane Coles and will be hoping the injury struggles of the last two years are behind him. The 32-year-old missed all of last year with an ACL injury, but returned for the All Blacks end-of-year tour to play international rugby.
The halves pair of All Blacks TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett combines two great rugby players who have positional flaws, it must be said. Perenara is a smart, dynamic running halfback who has an inaccurate pass at times, whilst Barrett is an explosive, instinctual playmaker with his own accuracy issues as a passer.
The two leaders have been the backbone of the Hurricanes success for the best part of a decade, but as their athletic abilities lose a step with age, so will their impact as playmakers.
Their games need to continue to mature to find the level of control the Crusaders pair of Richie Mo’unga and Bryn Hall already have. In tight fixtures against the superpowers of the competition, this is critical. No more was this apparent than the away trip to Christchurch in the wet, where the execution and decision-making wasn’t where it needed to be.
The emergence of Ben Lam as a record-setting try-scorer in 2018 meant that the Hurricanes were able to say goodbye to prolific All Black wing Julian Savea. ‘The Bus’ notched his 50th Super Rugby try, becoming the ninth player to do so in Super Rugby before seeking an early release to join Toulon.
Savea’s absence this year opens up the chance for Wellington-product Salesi Rayesi to make a case for the right wing, which will also be contested by Wes Goosen, Jonah Lowe, and Nehe Milner-Skudder, also in his last season before moving to Toulon.
Savea’s younger brother Ardie shapes as a key leader in the forward pack, now entering into his sixth year with Hurricanes with 73 Super caps. His end of year tour playing as a No. 8 and openside with the All Blacks showed just how valuable he can be, as the 25-year-old has reached a new level physically.
With long-time blindside flanker Brad Shields moving to Wasps, Savea is now one of the more experienced forwards and will need to lead the way in 2019.
Jordie Barrett moves into his third Super Rugby season and will be looking to re-find his supernatural combination with brother Beauden that took the competition by storm in his debut season in 2017.
The Barrett brothers control the backfield like no others, and their ability to read each other is irreplaceable. The Hurricanes 2017 attack might have been the best not to win a Super Rugby title, with the cross-field kicks coming in vogue as tries rained down from the air. After somewhat of a sophomore slump last year, the 21-year-old Barrett will be looking to continue his trajectory as one of the game’s premier young talents.
The Wellington front-row pair of Alex Fidow and Asafo Aumua have been promising prospects for a long time, and 2019 may just be the year they hit their straps in Super Rugby and earn regular game time. Gisborne-raised lock Isaia Walker-Leaware is another young forward with tremendous skill that is part of the next Hurricanes generation looking to break through this year.
There is no shortage of explosive athletes across the park with the likes of Ngani Laumape, Vince Aso, Vaea Fifita all proving big playmaking ability, making the Hurricanes a formidable opponent for anyone.
We know the Hurricanes will put together a competitive team of the highest calibre in Super Rugby, but with the Blues shaping as an improved force in the New Zealand conference, there will be little room for slip-ups if they hold championship aspirations.
To secure home-field advantage, losing games away to the likes of the Bulls and the Brumbies has to be avoided, and losing at home to any New Zealand side is a major setback with road wins so hard to earn in the conference.
The path to a second title does not go through Christchurch, so if the Hurricanes can force the Crusaders to come north in the playoffs, it’s on the table for the taking.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben 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.
19 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.
7 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.
19 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?
9 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.
9 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 commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
3 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments