Hurricanes remain unchanged for first game back at the “Cake Tin”
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The "Cake Tin". The Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand.
Morgan Piek – The Hurricanes are finally back home in Wellington, New Zealand after three gruelling weeks in South Africa and Australia. They were the first team to tour this season and it can be viewed as an outstanding success.
They kicked-off their campaign in Cape Town facing the DHL Stormers at Newlands and went down in the first game. They weren’t given a second thought as contenders as many believed they were convincingly beaten by an under par Stormers side. The Stormers won 39 -26.
The following week saw them bounce back to beat the defending Currie Cup Champions, the MTN Lions in Johannesburg in a nail-biting, yet highly entertaining match. They narrowly walked away as victors against a very spirited Lions outfit. The final score was 30-28 in favour of the Hurricanes.
With the South African leg of the tour done and dusted they headed to Perth, Australia to face John Mitchells’ former side the Western Force. The first 60 minutes were a tightly contested affair with no side willing to cave. Finally the deadlock was broken when the Canes scored and the flood gates opened. The men from Wellington convincingly hammered the Western Australians 49-16.
They Hurricanes talent scouts can feel well pleased with their efforts as a diamond in the rough was uncovered on tour. This diamond takes the form of scrumhalf, TJ Perenara. The former New Zealand Schools captain is one serious talent and he cannot ignored. He will be able to walk into any South Africa team without a problem. Last weekend in this run-on debut Perenara scored a hat-trick of tries for his team.
With none of the New Zealand scrumhalves, apart from Tewera Kerr-Barlow of the Chiefs impressing me this year, Perenara has a lot to play for. Kerr-Barlow is looking like a good prospect for an All Blacks jersey this season and Perenara might just be some stiff competition for that jersey.
The Hurricanes will be playing their first game at the “Cake Tin” this season. The have the daunting task of taking on the inform Highlanders. Although the Highlanders have narrowly won all their games this season, they’ve taken down big opposition in the process. The Chiefs, Crusaders and the Warathas have all fallen to the men from Dunedin. They cannot be taken lightly this season because they believe in themselves and it’s the most important ingredient to become a championship winning side.
The Hurricanes on the other hand have shown in their last two games that they have the mustard to give any team a good run for its money. The Canes at home are never easy and they may just hand the Highlanders their first defeat of the season.
Coach Mark Hammett has named an unchanged side for the Canes game in Wellington. This bodes well for the team if the coach has enough confidence in his team to stick to the same combinations. This will do the players confidence the world of good and start creating a vibe in the team.
The Hurricanes team is as follows:
1. Ben May, 2. Dane Coles, 3. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 4. Jeremy Thrush, 5. Jason Eaton, 6. Faifili Levave, 7. Jack Lam, 8. Victor Vito, 9. TJ Perenara, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Julian Savea, 12. Tim Bateman, 13. Conrad Smith (c), 14. Cory Jane, 15. Andre Taylor.
Reserves:
16. Motu Matu’u, 17. Michael Bent, 18. James Broadhurst, 19. Brad Shields, 20. Chris Eaton, 21. Daniel Kirkpatrick, 22. Charlie Ngatai.
The game kicks-off Saturday morning at 8:35am CAT.
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