Force v Hurricanes

frugby

@Duluth 30C should be doable. The Canes faced tougher when they played the Reds in Townsville last year.

Whoppa said on SENZ they have been using a special room at the NZCIS to prepare. Whether that makes a difference, I guess time will tell.

Canes4life

@frugby yeah they have a heat altitude chamber.

Canes4life

Hurricanes named to play Force:

Xavier Numia
Asafo Aumua
Pasilio Tosi
Caleb Delany
Isaia Walker-Leawere
Devan Flanders
Du Plessis Kirifi
Peter Lakai
Jordi Vijoen
Brett Cameron
Kini Naholo
Jordie Barrett
Billy Proctor
Josh Moorby
Ruben Love
James O'Reilly
Pouri Rakete-Stones
Tyrel Lomax
Justin Sangster
Brayden Iose
Cam Roigard
Riley Higgins
Salesi Rayasi

george33

All teams out

Canes4life

Force side:

frugby

Jordi Viljoen could be the biggest of biggest All Black bolters this year... kid is special.

Canes4life

@frugby yeah he's got a real Aaron Smith feel about him. I mean that pass is a beaut. That haircut though is something else.

Dan54

@frugby said in Force v Hurricanes:

Jordi Viljoen could be the biggest of biggest All Black bolters this year... kid is special.

A couple of years away with cattle we got at 9 I imagine. But I certainly not upset at him getting the first start of the year!!

Canes4life

I'm disappointed Godfrey didn't make the 23 but I'm sure he'll get his chance. Would rather him instead of Rayasi. Also surprised that Tosi is starting, he looks to have improved his scrummaging and could be a bit of a weapon if he can stay fit.

Our centre pairing and our outsides are very solid. Hopefully the forwards can lay a good platform.

antipodean

@Canes4life Australian S&C coaches earning their wage again...

Bones

@Canes4life extremely handy looking bench though.

Winger

@frugby said in Force v Hurricanes:

Jordi Viljoen could be the biggest of biggest All Black bolters this year... kid is special.

Agree.

The only concern I have is his size and defense. And how he takes the physical side of rugby.

But otherwise, he looks to have it all. Excellent passing. A joy to watch. Backed up with what seems like a first rate kicking and great running game. He also seems to read the game well.

And super confident. Maybe too much so and he needs to tone it down a bit.

I will watch his progress with interest. How some team didn't pick him up is beyond me. But Canes need to hold onto him for sure. In some way.

Winger

@george33 said in Force v Hurricanes:

All teams out

Great to see.

Winger

@Canes4life said in Force v Hurricanes:

I'm disappointed Godfrey didn't make the 23 but I'm sure he'll get his chance. Would rather him instead of Rayasi. Also surprised that Tosi is starting, he looks to have improved his scrummaging and could be a bit of a weapon if he can stay fit.

Our centre pairing and our outsides are very solid. Hopefully the forwards can lay a good platform.

After the rubbish selections at times last and previous years (no unbelievably bad Blackwell or even Prinsep type selections. Or some of the limited 1st 5s after Barrett). And some unbelievably bad selections for the Lions last year. I have no complaints at all.

Tosi looked promising against the Highlanders so pleased he gets a start and a sort of rest for Lomax. The rest of the forwards seem spot on to me. Likewise, the backs. I am a fan of Higgins and hope he gets lots of game time somewhere. I have doubts about Moorby but no one is clearly better so fair enough. He's a safe option that won't set the world on fire.

And no Morgan. He had his chances and hasn't got it. But I've said previously my backup to Cameron is Barrett, then Love and then Godfrey. Godfrey needs to find an NPC team who will start him at first if he sees first as his long-term future

Daffy Jaffy

The Force going with a 6/2 bench. Two loose forwards.

cgrant

Tosi has improved his scrummaging but a 140 kg prop will probably suffer in the 30°C heat.

Canes4life

@Winger said in Force v Hurricanes:

I have doubts about Moorby but no one is clearly better so fair enough. He's a safe option that won't set the world on fire.

That's super interesting, I feel like he's been one of our more consistent backs of the last couple seasons. Having him on the wing instead of fullback is a great move aswell, I think he's more suited there. Shields highlighted him as the player to watch for the Canes in 2024, apparently he's been gassing people at training and is in great nick. Alongside Roigard he's apparently the fittest player in the team so hopefully he can have a breakout year and make that 14 jersey his own. I'm expecting big campaigns from our back three (Love, Naholo and Moorby), they are well balanced and they have the capability of taking our attacking game to a new level.

Canes4life

@cgrant I would say Tosi and Walker-Leawere (due to their size) will make way for Lomax and Sangster early in the second half as the game begins to open up.