‘Wrecking ball’ ready for ABS
The Hurricanes’ wrecking ball is ready, whenever Steve Hansen is.
Second five-eighth Ngani Laumape was at it again, leaving some of his team-mates awestruck by his deeds in Tuesday’s captivating 31-31 draw with the British and Irish Lions at a packed Westpac Stadium.
None more so than Nehe Milner-skudder, his Manawatu mate back in the groove after an injury-marred 16 months and sporting a scarlet badge of honour on his right eye to remember the Lions by.
‘‘He [Laumape] was an absolute wrecking ball. It’s pretty easy when you’ve got a guy like him hitting off that first receiver and gets the boys great go forward,’’ Milner-skudder said.
‘‘When he’s out on the wing with one person in front of him he’s going to go close to scoring which he did.
‘‘You can see a lot of confidence that he’s come back with from being away with the All Blacks [wider squad in Auckland] and I’m just excited to be outside a guy like him that he’ll create a lot of opportunities.’’
If not during the Lions series, a test debut in the Rugby Championship is surely imminent for Laumape, whose dynamic performances in the mould of his Hurricanes No 12 predecessor Ma’a Nonu have lit up their backline alongside Vince Aso.
‘‘I’m not Hansen and I keep the faith with what Steve does in his selections,’’ Milner-skudder said.
‘‘It’s pretty hard to fault him [Laumape] going off that performance but then you’ve got Sonny [Bill Williams] and Anton [Lienert-brown] and even Jack [Goodhue] would definitely slot in there pretty well.’’