Hurricanes vs Blues
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The scrum will be tested without Ofa there to mark Lomax.
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I thought the Blues would probably win this one but after looking at both teams and the surprise return of Flanders off the bench, I’m liking the Canes, especially at home.
Awesome to see Higgins get a chance, hope he takes it with both hands. Tevita Mafileo also gets a shot.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
6/2 bench
6/2 is a good fit for the direct game plan
Also, Funaki might be getting ahead of Nock in the pecking order
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
HURRICANES (1-15): Tevita Mafileo, Asafo Aumua (co-c), Tyrel Lomax, James Tucker, Isaia Walker-Leawere, TK Howden, Peter Lakai, Brayden Iose, Cam Roigard, Brett Cameron, Kini Naholo, Riley Higgins, Billy Proctor (co-c), Josh Moorby, Ruben Love
RESERVES: James O'Reilly, Xavier Numia, Pasilio Tosi, Caleb Delany, Devan Flanders, TJ Perenara, Peter Umaga-Jensen, Salesi Rayasi
Referee: Jordan Way
Assistant Referees: Nick Hogan, Natarsha Ganley
Once again, no complaints with this team (subject to James Tucker performing).
Riley Higgins. Really rate him and he seems to be a level above last year. But early days yet but I don't rate PUJ at 2nd so hope he performs
Morgan not in the 23
Mafilio gets a start. I'm sure Numia, who has been in great form, will get lots of game time
Flanders back
Howden needs to step up after last weekGood to see Perenara back. But I will miss the excellent Smith like passing from the last 2 weeks
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should be a cracker! cant wait! Come on Canes!
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@Daffy-Jaffy Canes scrum will be tested when Lomax comes off, and Tosi up against Ofa
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@BerhamporeNinja Ofa isn’t on the bench. For Tosi who’s gone from being a Number 8 three years ago to the way he’s scrummaged to start the year, he could have a really high ceiling. He’s a big unit aswell and could be a real secret weapon for the Canes going forward, hope he sticks around.
We also can’t forget Tevita Mafileo who hasn’t even laced up yet. He was called into the ABs last year and is definitely no mug. This is probably the strongest load of props the Canes have had since 2015/2016 and they seem to be really pushing each other to get better.
My only worry is if we lose Aumua, we have a fairly weak/inexperienced bunch of hookers sitting behind him and if he goes down, that will definitely impact us against the stronger sides. I suppose you can say that about a number of players across all the teams though.
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The Canes need to square the ledger this week.
Head to head: Hurricanes vs Blues
Played: 40
Blues won: 20
Hurricanes won: 19
Drawn: 1
Blues points for: 1,068
Hurricanes points for: 998 -
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Jeez the Canes are the real sh*t now. So good.
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@foobaNZ yeah super refreshing. So much better than Holland always shoe-horning the likes of James Blackwell, Reed Prinsep and Julian Savea into the side every week when clearly they weren't up to it.
Clark Laidlaw seems to be picking players on form despite experience which is great to see. He isn't afraid to give Higgins the hot seat as a starter even though he's super young, whereas if Holland was in charge he would have given the gig to Umaga-Jensen based on the fact he's the more experienced player.
The players seem to have brought into the culture set by Laidlaw and that was strongly evident in the way they pulled through against the Reds, that will put us in good stead when the going gets tough later in the season.
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@mariner4life it's our year.
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@Duluth I think home advantage is a big one here, both teams look fairly even on paper so that could be the difference.
Canes fans have every right to be confident, we've had to deal with an incompetent coach for so long so hopefully it's all rainbows and butterflies from here.
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes vs Blues:
@Duluth I think home advantage is a big one here, both teams look fairly even on paper so that could be the difference.
Canes fans have every right to be confident, we've had to deal with an incompetent coach for so long so hopefully it's all rainbows and butterflies from here.
There's reasons for Canes fans to be confident. Canes set piece has been more consistent (including kickoffs in that). The Blues defence needs to tighten up too.
However regarding the change of coach, is Laidlaw that much of an improvement? A game against the Force and being taken to extra time by the Reds is a small sample size. Also isn't that offset by the loss of Ardie & Jordie (for this match)?
Since 2020 the two sides the results have gone 6-2 in the Blues favour, 3-1 in Wellington: Blues v Canes 2020-Now
Mostly close matches and the Canes have a big chance this week. Blues deserve to be slight favourites though
