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Hurricanes reward Waratahs rout with selections for Blues bout

9 days ago

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - MARCH 28: Kini Naholo of the Hurricanes scores a try during the round seven Super Rugby Pacific match between Hurricanes and NSW Waratahs at Sky Stadium, on March 28, 2025, in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

The Hurricanes have the benefit of consistency in a tumultuous Super Rugby Pacific season, naming a settled matchday 23 to take on the Blues in Auckland.

Head coach Clark Laidlaw has made just one change to his team from the monstrous round seven win over the Waratahs, that being Ereatara Enari coming in at reserve halfback for Jordi Viljoen.

Having experimented with a new, exciting loose forward trio against the Australian heavyweights, Laidlaw has backed Brayden Iose’s shift to the blindside flank and retained co-captain Brad Shields on the bench.

“Another consistent selection for us this week,” the coach said. “We’re happy with how we played vs the Waratahs last Friday, and we have started the week well with our preparation to head up to Auckland and face the reigning champions.”

“The Blues are coming off their bye week, and they will have plenty of energy for this Saturday. With quite a few of their guys back from injury, it’ll be a good test to see how we go away from home. The competition is tight this season, so every win and every point we can get is going to go a long way to help us push towards those playoffs at the end of the season. We’re excited and looking forward to the challenge this week at Eden Park.”

Seven capped All Blacks will be in action for the wellingotnians in what is likely to be a crucial contest for both teams, who each currently sit outside a playoffs seeding.

Hurricanes team to play the Blues

Xavier Numia
Asafo Aumua (Co-Captain)

Tyrel Lomax

Caleb Delany

Isaia Walker-Leawere

Brayden Iose

Du’Plessis Kirifi (Co-Captain)

Peter Lakai

Cam Roigard

Riley Hohepa

Kini Naholo

Peter Umaga-Jensen

Bailyn Sullivan

Ngatungane Punivai

Ruben Love

IMPACT

Jacob Devery

Pouri Rakete-Stones

Pasilio Tosi

Will Tucker

Brad Shields

Ereatara Enari

Callum Harkin

Fatafehi Fineanganofo

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NK 12 minutes ago

Crusaders hold on for dramatic win over Hurricanes on the road

Canes were AWOL for 60 minutes. Great defence by the Saders with 13 men. Well deserved result.

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Duhan van der Merwe's Lions tour thrown into doubt

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Ronald Fraser 46 minutes ago

Duhan van der Merwe's Lions tour thrown into doubt

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JD 1 hour ago

'Caelan Doris... I’m not sure he gets in the Lions back row at the moment'

Doris didn’t play that well though, while other number 8’s really shone. Hell Conan made more impact during his minutes than Doris. It doesn’t matter how well Ireland did. Example - Sale lost to Toulouse last weekend, but Ben Curry was phenomenal despite losing.

Don’t judge a player on 5 games is my opinion, class is permanent. Doris does need some good games between now and the end of the season though.

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Duhan van der Merwe's Lions tour thrown into doubt

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JD 1 hour ago

Despite the Croke Park horror show, Marcus Smith shouldn't be discounted from Lions conversation

Taking 2 fly halfs and 2 fullbacks plus Marcus Smith leaves an extra tour spot. Quids in it will be Elliott Daly given his versatility. Personally I’m not a huge fan of his, but for a tour like this he will be ideal given the sheer number of matches. A further centre cum flyhalf (Jordan) isn’t needed as Kinghorn can play 10 as well. Part of me really wants Manu on that plane.

12 Go to comments

JD 1 hour ago

'Caelan Doris... I’m not sure he gets in the Lions back row at the moment'

Farrell comes left field and names Jac Morgan as tour captain…

One problem for Doris currently is the form of Jack Conan. Conan is basically playing anywhere just to get on the pitch and is starting tonight at 8 vs Glasgow.

It’s an interesting thing to consider. Neither Doris nor Itoje are hugely experienced captains, but the argument could be made that Maro has more experience at the top given his amount of international caps and previous Lions involvement.

Both will be leaders in the pack regardless. Whoever is captain has to be a nailed on starter though. It’s not that outlandish to namecheck the current England captain as a potential tour captain really given Farrell only has a few options in front of him.

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JD 1 hour ago

'Caelan Doris... I’m not sure he gets in the Lions back row at the moment'

He’ll be starting second row anyway so surely it’s irrelevant to Oz whether he’s captain or not then?

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NB 2 hours ago

Why French rugby would be poorer if Ronan O'Gara leaves La Rochelle

Every league bar hte Top 14 is posting huge numbers of points 👍

50 Go to comments

NB 2 hours ago

Why French rugby would be poorer if Ronan O'Gara leaves La Rochelle

He ruled it out previously.

50 Go to comments

NB 2 hours ago

Why French rugby would be poorer if Ronan O'Gara leaves La Rochelle

For sure, but it’s not a reason to trade away a series win in NZ - at least not unless you’re inhabiting an alternate universe!

NZ prob learned more because Schmidt came in, and he was far more familiar with developments in Ireland than any of the local coaches.

50 Go to comments

NB 2 hours ago

Why French rugby would be poorer if Ronan O'Gara leaves La Rochelle

They are not opposed points of view FL.

England up to Ireland 2024 tended to kick back rather than return. Their KR improvement coincided with both trhe intro of Furbank at 15, and Felix Jones running a more aggressive form of D.

France are good kick returners, but most of the work on that is done by the coaches at Toulouse and UBB, who have adopted a similar style.

50 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 2 hours ago

'Caelan Doris... I’m not sure he gets in the Lions back row at the moment'

Its the Oz media. They want him as captain with his penalty count and discipline woes. He’d help them no end.

11 Go to comments

DP 2 hours ago

'Caelan Doris... I’m not sure he gets in the Lions back row at the moment'

Tinsel has zero rugby IQ but a lot of influential rugby mates. The bloke spouts so much nonsense it’s hilarious to hear, he speaks with such conviction… blinkered and rose tinted conviction, much like most of the English players from his era.

11 Go to comments

fl 2 hours ago

Why French rugby would be poorer if Ronan O'Gara leaves La Rochelle

could O’Gara take the top job at Wales now though?

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Tulijuanacutler 2 hours ago

Geoff Parling: An Englishman roasting the Lions?

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44 Go to comments

fl 2 hours ago

Why French rugby would be poorer if Ronan O'Gara leaves La Rochelle

I agree - but I do also think NZ learned from that defeat and that was one of the main reasons they won in the QF.

50 Go to comments

fl 2 hours ago

Why French rugby would be poorer if Ronan O'Gara leaves La Rochelle

“Both tend to be generated by agressive D, which either wins the ball directly, or forces a kick on the D’s terms.”

this is partly true, but its also down to the kicks themselves.

“England post-2023 have been pretty good on KR’s esp when they started to pick either Marcus or Furbank at FB.”

completely true, but not at all the point I was making. England in 2023 were brilliant at generating turnovers, but they were not brilliant at converting them into chances - so very clearly scoring loads of tries off turnovers isn’t purely (or perhaps even primarily) a product of aggressive defence. The point about Furbank and Smith actually kinda proves my point - neither player contributes much to England’s defensive linespeed, and yet they do contribute to tries being scored off turnover!

50 Go to comments

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Hurricanes reward Waratahs rout with selections for Blues bout

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