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‘It’s come full circle’: Hurricanes lock set for milestone against Drua

(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

The life of Hurricanes star Isaia Walker-Leawere will “come full circle” on Saturday afternoon when he runs out for his 50th Super Rugby appearance.

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Maori All Blacks representative Walker-Leawere will bring up the milestone against the Drua in Suva, Fiji – a country that clearly means a lot to both the second-rower and his family.

Isaia’s father, Kele Leawere, played for Fiji at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The Hurricanes lock is looking forward to playing “in front of my family” this weekend.

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“It’s pretty buzzy how it’s come full circle and I get to play 50 games for the Hurricanes in Fiji in front of my family, many of whom I don’t really get to see very often,” Walker-Leawere said.

Following on from the Hurricanes’ hard-fought win over the Brumbies in round 10, coach Jason Holland has made three changes to the run-on XV.

There’s only one change in the forward pack, with Justin Sangster set to start alongside the milestone man in the second row following a stint on the sideline.

As for the backline, exciting winger Kini Naholo takes his place on the left edge, while in-form outside back Salesi Rayasi has been relegated to the bench.

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Centre Billy Proctor also comes into the starting side, and will partner All Blacks star Jordie Barrett in the midfield.

“This is another massive game for us,” coach Holland said in a statement. “We are looking forward to playing in a brilliant and unique atmosphere.

“The Drua are playing some great rugby and scoring some great tries, so will need to be at our best to beat them.”

Hurricanes team to take on Fijian Drua

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

Replacements:

  1. Jacob Devery
  2. Tevita Mafileo
  3. Owen Franks
  4. TK Howden
  5. Brayden Iose
  6. Jamie Booth
  7. Harry Godfrey
  8. Salesi Rayasi

Unavailable: Ruben Love, Tyler Laubscher, Reed Prinsep, TJ Perenara, Brett Cameron, Daniel Sinkinson, Bailyn Sullivan, Dane Coles, James Blackwell, Caleb Delany, Dominic Bird

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AM 37 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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