Brayden Iose. Photo: Marty Melville/Actionpress
Hurricanes v Waratahs
Kick-off: 7:05pm Friday 28 March
Sky Stadium, Wellington
Live blog coverage on RNZ Sport
Ruben Love and Asafo Aumua of the Hurricanes celebrate, 2024 Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Things are starting to get tight for the Hurricanes as all they've got to show for this season so far is two wins and an awful lot of injuries. Clark Laidlaw's having a tough second go at it as a head coach, but his side has a real opportunity to get things back on track tonight against the Waratahs.
In seasons past, this would be seen as a guaranteed result for the Canes at home. However, this is a far more polished and confident Tahs side, coming in with five wins and one of the biggest names in the game right now.
Photo: supplied
Team lists
Hurricanes: 1. Xavier Numia, 2. Asafo Aumua (cc), 3. Tyrel Lomax, 4. Caleb Delany, 5. Zach Gallagher, 6. Brayden Iose, 7. Du'Plessis Kirifi (cc), 8. Peter Lakai, 9. Cam Roigard, 10. Riley Hohepa, 11. Kini Naholo, 12. Bailyn Sullivan, 13. Peter Umaga-Jensen, 14. Ngatungane Punivai, 15. Ruben Love
Bench: 16. Jacob Devery, 17. Pouri Rakete-Stones, 18. Tevita Mafileo, 19. Isaia Walker-Leawere, 20. Brad Shields, 21. Jordi Viljoen, 22. Fatafehi Fineanganofo, 23. Kade Banks
Waratahs: 1. Angus Bell, 2. Julian Heaven, 3. Taniela Tupou, 4. Ben Grant, 5. Miles Amatosero, 6. Rob Leota, 7. Charlie Gamble, 8. Langi Gleeson, 9. Teddy Wilson, 10. Lawson Creighton, 11. Archie Saunders, 12. Joey Walton (c), 13. Joseph Suaalii, 14. Darby Lancaster, 15. Max Jorgensen
16. Ethan Dobbins, 17. Isaac Kailea, 18. Daniel Botha, 19. Felix Kalapu, 20. Jamie Adamson, 21. Jack Grant, 22. Tane Edmed, 23. Lalakai Foketi
Canes selections
Riley Hohepa. Photo: Paul Taylor/ActionPress
Riley Hohepa finds himself in the hot seat after Harry Godfrey's leg injury has seen the in-form first five ruled out for six weeks. Hohepa has a pretty decent pack in front of him, with the drums starting to beat for an All Black call-up for Du'Plessis Kirifi. Ruben Love will presumably be the backup at 10, although there might be the temptation to give Cam Roigard a go - just to see what happens.
Riley Hohepa finds himself in the hot seat after Harry Godfrey's leg injury has seen the in-form first five ruled out for six weeks. Hohepa has a pretty decent pack in front of him, with the drums starting to beat for an All Black call-up for Du'Plessis Kirifi. Ruben Love will presumably be the backup at 10, although there might be the temptation to give Cam Roigard a go - just to see what happens.
Waratahs selections
Joseph Suaalii Photo: photosport
There's been only one name that anyone's talked about this week regarding the Tahs. Joseph Suaalii is back from injury and ready to pick up where he left off at centre, inside him Joey Walton takes over as captain in place of the injured Jake Gordon. Teddy Wilson takes Gordon's place at halfback.
Key stats
Ruben Love of the Hurricanes is tackled by Laghlan McWhannell of the Blues. Photo: Hagen Hopkins
The Hurricanes have won their last seven Super Rugby Pacific games against the NSW Waratahs, scoring an average of 35.3 points per game. They have also conceded fewer than 20 points in five of those games in that span.
The Waratahs have lost their last seven straight Super Rugby Pacific games in New Zealand. In those games, they've scored exactly 12 points in each.
Ruben Love has scored one try in each of his last two Super Rugby Pacific games - as well as making one try assist in that period - after not scoring any tries across his previous 11 games in the competition.
What they're saying
"The Hurricanes will have a good plan in place as well, they'll challenge us. No doubt that we feel that our game is where it needs to be to beat any team on our day," said Waratahs coach Dan McKellar.
"The Waratahs have had a good season so far and they look like they know what type of team they want to be. They have a big forward pack and they're super direct. It'll be a big challenge, but we're excited for it and can't wait to play this Friday," said Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw.
The last time they met
Hurricanes 41 - 12 Waratahs
It's not really worth reading too much into this given that all but one of the Canes' try scorers are either injured or have left the team. However, it was yet another loss for the Tahs in Wellington, a place they haven't won at for over a decade.
What's going to happen
This, along with the Highlanders' visit to Canberra later tonight, is shaping as a key moment in the season. If the Hurricanes drop this, it's time to start thinking about next year, however, a statement win will completely put them back on course. For the Tahs, Suaalii must get involved early and often, and expect Max Jorgensen to play a big role too.
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