‘I want to win’: Ruben Love on best position fit at Canes and injury rehab

It would be ambitious for Ruben Love to line up at number eight for the Hurricanes this season, but the injured utility is more than happy to play in any position as long it helps the team deliver a Super Rugby Pacific title back to New Zealand’s capital.

After undergoing ankle surgery late last year, Love is set to spend three to four months on the sidelines which came as a significant blow to the Hurricanes before the new season got underway, with incumbent first five-eighth Brett Cameron already injured.

Cameron, who played for the All Blacks in 2018 against Japan, will miss the entire season after suffering an ACL injury during the NPC season. Love firmed as an early candidate to step into Cameron’s No. 10 position at the Canes, but that won’t be the case for a while at least.

Coach Clark Laidlaw named former New Zealand U20 and Hawke’s Bay fullback Harry Godfrey in the starting role for the Hurricanes’ season-opener against the Crusaders on Valentine’s Day, while Riley Hohepa and Lucas Cashmore are another two options.

With Love starting 12 of 13 appearances for the Hurricanes at fullback last season, the one-Test All Black could very well slot back into that role later on as one of the other three mentioned steer the ship at 10, but that’s not to say Love definitely won’t be the team’s chief playmaker.

“We’re not sure yet,” Love told RugbyPass at the Super Rugby Pacific season launch in Sydney. “The Canes coaches and I have spoken a lot about it.

“We’ve got great 10s. Riley Hohepa, Lucas Cashmore and Harry Godfrey and depending on how they go in Super Rugby at the start will dictate where I come back and play.

“Whether it’s 23, 22, 15 or 10, number eight,” he quipped before continuing. “Whatever it is I want to win and the Canes want to win so I’m not too sure. We’ll have that conversation closer to the time.”

While the Hurricanes turn their focus to a second round clash with the Fijian Drua at McLean Park on Saturday, Love is continuing to chip away on the road to recovery. If Love’s latest Instagram post is anything to go by, then the All Black is well and truly on track.

In a carousel that included a photo of Love with Du’Plessis Kirifi and former Hurricane TJ Perenara, a pool table, and behind-the-scenes content from presumably Super Pacific promotional content, the 23-year-old was pictured on a run.

 

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A post shared by Ruben Love (@rubenlove_)

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With a hat on backwards and an elevation training mask covering his face, Love is working hard while leaving no stone unturned, with the goal of helping both the Hurricanes and All Blacks be even better moving forward.

“It’s fine. I was in a bit of pain last year so getting it cleaned up has been the best thing for it and it’s allowed me to focus on so many ways that I can get better as a player,” Love explained.

“They’ve sought out movement pattern coaches, breathing coaches, so much more stuff that I can do to be better from the Hurricanes and the All Blacks.

“I’m excited to come back but I’m not rushing it. When I come back I want to be the best version of myself so it’s all positive.”

Without Love, the Hurricanes’ new season didn’t get off to a winning start.

After a strong start down in Christchurch, the Hurricanes fell away against the Crusaders who hit their stride during the second half in particular. There would be no losing bonus point for the Hurricanes either who went down swinging 33-25.

It’s a tough blow for the Canes, who are looking to go a couple better this season after losing in the semi-finals to the Chiefs last time out. They’d finished the regular season in pole position but couldn’t quite hang on for the championship.

“We all had to sit and watch the Chiefs game again as a team and kind of reflect on what went wrong during the week and what we could’ve done differently,” he reflected.

“It was the last three weeks of the season, it wasn’t tapered off mentally or anything like that, we just didn’t play our best rugby whereas we did throughout the whole season, we were definitely the best team in the comp.

“It’s just about how we correct it… we’re all very motivated and know that anything less than winning the comp isn’t really what we set out for.”