Hurricanes v Crusaders
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Hurricanes:
1 Ben May
2 Ricky Riccitelli
3 Jeff To'omaga-Allen
4 Mark Abbott
5 Sam Lousi
6 Vaea Fifita
7 Ardie Savea
8 Brad Shields
9 TJ Perenara (c)
10 Beauden Barre tt
11 Julian Savea
12 Ngani Laumape
13 Vince Aso
14 Nehe Milner-Skudder
15 Jordie BarrettReserves:
16 James O'Reilly,17 Chris Eves, 18 Loni Uhila, 19 Reed Prinsep,20 Callum Gibbins, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi,22 Wes Goosen, 23 Cory Jane
.HURRICANES ALL BLACKS BACK TO PLAY CRUSADERS
All Blacks TJ Perenara, Beauden Barrett and Ardie Savea will return to the Hurricanes starting side against Crusaders at Westpac Stadium on Saturday. The key trio represents the only changes to the team that started during last month's famous 31-31 draw with the The British & Irish Lions. Saturday's match represents the final match of the Investec Super Rugby regular season with the result set to influence the path each team takes during the playoffs. For the Hurricanes a win would mean a trip to Canberra to play the Brumbies in the quarterfinals, while a loss would see the defending champions fly to Cape Town to play the Stormers. The Crusaders are out to retain their unbeaten record and ensure they finish top of the regular season ladder, giving them home advantage throughout the playoffs. Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd has named his strongest possible side for what shapes as one of the matches of the season. Perenara replaces Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi at halfback and reclaims the captaincy from Brad Shields, Barrett slots back into the No.10 jersey for Otere Black, while Ardie Savea takes over at openside from Callum Gibbins. Black drops out of the match day 23 meaning Jordie Barrett will again provide cover at first five for his older brother. Gibbins, who was outstanding during the famous draw against the Lions, takes his place on a reserve bench that features the return of prop Loni Uhila and a potential debut for hooker James O'Reilly. O'Reilly comes into the squad for Leni Apisai, who has been ruled out due to an ankle injury picked up playing club rugby last weekend. The Hurricanes regular season record heading into the match is won 11 and lost three matches, including a 20-12 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch on May 13. The Crusaders have won all 14 of their matches in 2017. -
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@Chris-B. said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
Boyd not feeling the necessity to rest Beauden?
Draw really hasn't helped us here - would have been nice to have this fixture earlier and have an easy-beat Australian team this week where we could rest some key players.
You got all your easy beats early on and could build up momentum - you can't expect the entire red carpet to rolled out for you.
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@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
@Chris-B. swings and roundabouts - Crusaders had minimal travel in the early stages of the competition and their away trip to South Africa was against easy beats Cheetahs and Bulls.
Not really, though Murph. The result in terms of the NZ Conference is largely irrelevant to the Crusaders.
From our perspective a Hurricanes victory is just a massive favour to the Lions - and those fuckers have been playing on the kiddie's roundabout all season.
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@Chris-B. Lions dont have a great record against the Sharks in Durban with only 2 wins coming from thier 10 visits, in 2000 and 2016...although the Sharks did recently lose to the woeful Bulls and tie with the equally shit Rebels this year in Durban...
so to summarise, those conferences are a joke!
#notfishing -
@taniwharugby I will be outraged if the fucking Lions get a fucking QF against the fucking Sharks.
In terms of a competition - to quote John Emburey - the fucking fucker's fucking fucked!
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Jesus Christ @Chris-B it's just the Hurricanes. TJP is a headless chook and Jules is fat and slow, it's not like we have the players to win the "big games". Should be the Saders at a canter.
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Crusaders
1 Wyatt Crockett
2 Ben Funnell
3 Michael Alaalatoa
4 Luke Romano
5 Scott Barrett
6 Jordan Taufua
7 Matt Todd (C)
8 Kieran Read
9 Bryn Hall
10 Richie Mo'unga
11 George Bridge
12 David Havili
13 Jack Goodhue
14 Seta Tamanivalu
15 Israel DaggRESERVES
16 Andrew Makalio
17 Tim Perry
18 Oliver Jager
19 Sam Whitelock (VC)
20 Jed Brown
21 Mitchell Drummond
22 Mitchell Hunt
23 Sean WainuiBNZ Crusaders team to play the Hurricanes
The BNZ Crusaders will play their final regular season game for 2017 in Wellington this Saturday night, when they take on the current Super Rugby title holders. A home quarter final is already secured, but the result of this weekend's game will help to determine whether the BNZ Crusaders will host the Sharks or the Highlanders at AMI Stadium next Saturday night. Head Coach Scott Robertson has named some of the All Blacks who have returned from the British and Irish Lions tour this week, including Wyatt Crockett at 1, Luke Romano and Scott Barrett at lock, Kieran Read at No. 8, Israel Dagg at fullback and Sam Whitelock on the bench. Matt Todd and Jack Goodhue, who were included as injury cover in the All Blacks squad, will also take starting spots and Todd will captain the team. Jerseys 11 and 12 will be filled by two of the award winners from Tuesday night's BNZ Crusaders Awards evening. Wing George Bridge was named the 'BNZ Crusaders Rookie of the Year', while second five David Havili was named the 'BNZ Crusaders Player of the Year'. A new award - the 'Champion Crusader of the Year' - was presented to Tim Bateman in recognition of his outstanding off-field and on-field contribution to the team. Kick-off is at 7:35pm this Saturday night at Westpac Stadium, Wellington. -
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@Stargazer said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
Most as expected, but geez, Havili at 12 again. And what is Wainui still doing in the line-up? Bateman injured? Mataele?
Makes you wonder if Robertson has gone on holiday and Toddy is wearing a Scotty mask.
A 12 on the wing, a wing at fullback and a fullback at 12.
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@Stargazer Yeah - Bateman at 2nd five, Dagg on the left wing and Havili at fullback would be significantly stronger in my opinion.
Razor at least not falling between two stools by resting his entire starting front row and sticking Sam Whitelock on the bench. I doubt we'll see Sam unless we're still in it with 20 minutes to go.
Doubtless the right decision - no point in running our tight five out of gas in the play-offs - and maybe we'll get lucky with this or other results.
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@No-Quarter TJP has been pretty controlled when in black'n'yellow this year
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@taniwharugby said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
@No-Quarter TJP has been pretty controlled when in black'n'yellow this year
Did you not see his first game against the Chiefs? Arguably lost the game for his team because he got so caught up in non relevant stuff he was totally outplayed by TKB. His arms nearly fell off with all the flapping.
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@Crucial first game v Chiefs was a long time ago...
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@taniwharugby said in Hurricanes v Crusaders:
@Crucial first game v Chiefs was a long time ago...
...in a galaxy far far away?
