Blues v Hurricanes

[Duluth]

Hurricanes named to take on the Blues in penultimate round of the regular season

1 Xavier Numia
2 Asafo Aumua
3 Tyrel Lomax
4 James Blackwell
5 Isaia Walker-Leawere
6 Caleb Delany
7 Du’Plessis Kirifi
8 Ardie Savea ©
9 Cam Roigard
10 Aidan Morgan
11 Kini Naholo
12 Jordie Barrett
13 Billy Proctor
14 Julian Savea
15 Josh Moorby

Reserves:
16. Hame Faiva
17. Tevita Mafileo
18. Owen Franks
19. Justin Sangster
20. Brayden Iose
21. Jamie Booth
22. Brett Cameron
23. Salesi Rayasi

Unavailable for selection: Ruben Love, Tyler Laubscher, Reed Prinsep, TJ Perenara, Bailyn Sullivan, Dane Coles, Devan Flanders.

Unavailable due to New Zealand under-20s commitments: Siale Lauaki, Peter Lakai, Cooper Flanders, Jordi Viljoen, Hunter Morrison, Harry Godfrey

[KiwiMurph]

The two best 10s are on the bench.

[Duluth]

Plummer needs to play better than his last start at ten

The first time we've seen the Heem/Ioane midfield combo this year. It has been very successful in previous years

[Kirwan]

Pretty happy with that forward pack, brutal.

[Canes4life]

Awesome news to get Brett Cameron back, also good to see Proctor isn't out for what looked like a serious shoulder injury.

Two solid teams, hopefully Auckland turns it on for Saturday.

I'm also glad Kini Naholo has kept his spot at 11, definitely the best wing we have atm.

[Duluth]

Surprised that AJ Lam has recovered enough to be bracketed

[Bovidae]

Will RTS play again this season?

[Duluth]

@Bovidae said in Blues v Hurricanes:

Will RTS play again this season?

If there are no injuries, probably not

Plummer (at 12) and Heem are playing well

[Kirwan]

@Bovidae It would be ironic if we had an injury crisis on the wing and we had to play him there and he carved up.

[Winger]

@Canes4life Agree on Cameron. In form he's a level or 2 above Morgan. Hope he can get back to his best quickly and start before the finals

And thank God that Aumua is back. Hope he can last the full match as we will lose half our lineouts when he's replaced.

The team selections are about right for once (I just accept Blackwell starting now. I'd prefer Bird) and some good surprises with Proctor starting and Cameron back. Also good to see Delany starting at 6 and the same wings

[Crazy Horse]

Good news about Cameron. For some reason I thought he was gone for the season.

[Canes4life]

@Winger yeah aside from Faiva it's a pretty sound team. I've heard that Coles is eyeing next week's game against the Crusaders as his final swansong at the Tin so hopefully this is Faiva's last appearance in a Canes jersey.

[BerhamporeNinja]

Solid canes 23 so happy to see Bret Cameron back 🙌🏼 that Blues pack tho, heavy hitters! Should make for a great spectacle

[Machpants]

10. Plummer

I have hope!

10. Morgan

Oh, never mind

[foobaNZ]

Plummer is a much better player than Morgan.

I remember a few years back when we had our post Beauden 10 crisis hoping we'd land one of Plummer or Perofeta at the Canes. I'd have been happy to have Plummer at 10 the past 3 years.

[antipodean]

@Duluth said in Blues v Hurricanes:

9 Finlay Christie
10 Harry Plummer
11 Caleb Clarke
12 Bryce Heem
13 Rieko Ioane
14 Mark Telea
15 Zarn Sullivan

Basedon form I'd swap the bench 9, move Plummer to 12. Heem is playing well, but the benefit is gained in the movement of Perofeta (even without a lot of game time) into 10.

[Kirwan]

Nock played well last week, but Christie has better form over a larger number of games. Especially on defence and running. Also, Nock's main weakness was nullified by asking him not to kick. With Plummer at 10, Christie will need to kick more.

And rushing Perofeta back after injury is not smart, that said I expect to see him early in the second half.

[cgrant]

@KiwiMurph said in Blues v Hurricanes:

The two best 10s are on the bench.

I'd like to see Zarn Sullivan at 10. He has a higher ceiling than Perofeta IMO.

[KiwiMurph]

@cgrant said in Blues v Hurricanes:

@KiwiMurph said in Blues v Hurricanes:

The two best 10s are on the bench.

I'd like to see Zarn Sullivan at 10. He has a higher ceiling than Perofeta IMO.

Zarn has yet to start a first class game at 10. Would rather not throw him into 10 for such a big game when Perofeta is in the 23.

[cgrant]

Yes, you are right, of course. I was just meaning that ZS has all the qualities required for a 1st Five. If he goes well there, he could be the next AB 10 in 2024.