Noah Lolesio of the Brumbies scores a try during the round ten Super Rugby Pacific match between ACT Brumbies and Hurricanes at GIO Stadium Photo: Mark Metcalfe / Getty
The Hurricanes have lost their three first choice hookers, but that has not stopped coach Clark Laidlaw demanding his team get back to winning ways after last week's "poor performance".
The Super Rugby Pacific leaders were beaten 29-19 by the Brumbies in Canberra last Saturday.
It was the Hurricanes first defeat of the season following eight straight wins.
It was never easy to go to Canberra and beat the Brumbies, but the visitors missed more than 40 tackles in the loss, a statistic that Laidlaw does not want to see repeated.
"We can defend a lot better," Laidlaw said.
"Some of that's on the individual players and some is the team system, but mostly the tackle is personal ownership of that battle and the one-on-one battle.
"We didn't feel like the Brumbies threw stuff at this that should make us miss 43 tackles, so that's been a big part of our prep this week."
Clark Laidlaw. Highlanders v Hurricanes, Round 6 of the Super Rugby Pacific at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand on Saturday 30 March 2024. Photo: www.photosport.nz
The table-topping Hurricanes host the Waratahs in Wellington on Friday night and Laidlaw conceded they could not make the same mistakes against a physical NSW side.
"The Waratahs have big men, when they get on the front foot, you saw it in the games against the Crusaders and Chiefs, they take a bit of holding. The back five of the scrum, they're big athletes, they want to hold you up in the tackle and dominate the collision. So we need to be better defensively and make sure we take our opportunities."
Laidlaw said his team were frustrated by their efforts against the Brumbies and he was demanding a response from his players.
"I want to see a reaction to playing poorly. We were disappointed with the way we played. We prepared well, we trained well, but we played poorly and we need to be better."
He said the defeat in Canberra hammered home just how hard it will be to win the Super Rugby title.
"It showed us that if you get it wrong, you lose. I think people underestimate how good all the teams are. The Blues and Reds game was an example and the Reds lost to Moana Pasifika, so if that's the full breadth of the table, then everybody is beating everybody, not consistently but in one off games. So we need to be at our best each week."
The Hurricanes were also without their three first choice hookers, with James O'Reilly the latest to be sidelined after suffering a concussion in the loss to the Brumbies.
They had already lost Jacob Devery for the season while Asafo Aumua was out with a knee injury he sustained against the Fijian Drua last month. He was expected to be sidelined for another four to six weeks.
Hurricanes James O’Reilly during the Super Rugby Pacific rugby match between the Wellington Hurricanes, and Rebels at Sky Stadium in Wellington. 21 May 2022. Photo: Marty Melville
Laidlaw has called in Kianu Kereru-Symes, Raymond Tuputupu and Shilo Klein as injury cover, with former Hawke's Bay hooker Kereru-Symes, who played for the Hurricanes in 2022, starting against NSW.
Tuputupu was again in the reserves after coming off the bench last week in Canberra.
"He's [Kereru-Symes] short of a gallop for sure, but he has been here. He's probably had six or seven weeks under his belt training, in and out of the team,'' Laidlaw said.
"He covered when we initially lost players or had niggles with other players, so he's had a couple of games for the development team. He's had a couple of club games.''
Laidlaw said Kereru-Symes, Tuputupu and Klein, who had previously played for the Crusaders, were likely to "job-share" until O'Reilly and Aumua were fit for selection.
