Hurricanes vow to be physical, and smart too

The Hurricanes will either beat the British and Irish Lions tonight, or they won’t.

What they won’t get at Westpac Stadium is a surprise. Some of the Lions’ previous opponents, including New Zealand Maori, have shown exactly how not to play the tourists.

So it would be more than a bit dim of the Hurricanes not to heed that.

‘‘Possibly the Maori were guilty of trying to play too much in those conditions and the forwards didn’t front up enough on the night and they were never good enough. We can’t be in that space; we’ve got to make sure our pack stands up,’’ Hurricanes forwards coach John Plumtree said.

‘‘It doesn’t matter what type of backline we’ve got; if we don’t get good ball and if the pack don’t stand up, we’re not going to get what we want.’’

Not a lot of ambiguity about that. Plain English is a trademark of Plumtree and coaching partner Chris Boyd and they’ve given the team simple instructions.

‘‘We haven’t been entirely happy with the way we’ve been going of late. Our big focus has been to secure possession and be patient and make sure that we get the opportunity to build some pressure, because the last thing we want to be doing is defending all day against this Lions side,’’ said Plumtree.

‘‘What we’ve seen with them is that they’re very patient with the way they attack.

‘‘They showed against the Chiefs that they can play out wide as well and if we kick poorly they’ll counter-attack.

‘‘If we’re going to impose ourselves on this game, we’ve got to win ball, be patient, be physical.’’

The bulk of this Lions lineup were in the midweek team that beat the Chiefs 32-10 last Tuesday. Fullback Jack Nowell has impressed all tour, along with halfback Greig Laidlaw, No.8 CJ Stander, lock Courtney Lawes and prop Joe Marler.

All up they’re a team that, as Plumtree noted, any coach would be delighted to work with.

‘‘We’re going to have to play above ourselves if we’re going to get a result,’’ he added.

The bulk of the Hurricanes’ backline need no introduction. Jordie Barrett, Nehe Milnerskudder, Vince Aso, Ngani Laumape and Julian Savea can all play.

Laumape, in particular, could be a real menace in this match, with his strong, direct running.

But halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and first five-eighth Otere Black have to step up and provide direction, in the absence of All Blacks TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett.

It’s up to the forwards to give the young halves that opportunity, otherwise the Hurricanes will join the the ranks of those teams who’ve lost to the Lions without firing a shot.

‘‘We’ll be looking for momentum,’’ Plumtree said.

‘‘With the way [the Lions] defend, if we throw [the ball] willy nilly, left and right and wide passes, we’re going to come unstuck.

‘‘So we’ve got to be pretty smart about the way we go about things.’’