Which Barrett will kick?
You can put your house on one Barrett kicking for the Hurricanes on Saturday. Or the other.
Goalkicking and the Barrett brothers has become the rugby equivalent of throwing chips at hungry seagulls. Everyone dives in with an opinion on whether Beauden or Jordie should do it and some statistical or technical gem to support their argument.
Except for Chris Boyd. Coaches are control freaks by nature but – genuinely or not – seem to back right off when it comes goalkicking. If Boyd knows which Hurricane will be taking the shots at goal against the Crusaders on Saturday, he wasn’t saying.
‘‘I actually haven’t talked to the boys,’’ a straight-faced Boyd said on Thursday.
‘‘If I was a betting man – and I’m not allowed to bet of course and I don’t bet – but if you were a betting man I probably couldn’t tell you either, because that would be insider trading.
‘‘I’ve got no idea who’s going to kick. They sort it out themselves, so I’m pretty sure it’ll either be Beauden or Jordie. One or the other.’’
It was all tongue-in-cheek stuff, belying the seriousness with which many fans treat the goalkicking issue.
In a nutshell, Beauden Barrett is the Hurricanes’ first-choice kicker. But a rib/side injury meant brother Jordie spent a productive spell kicking goals. When Beauden was back fit, he took over.
Again, folk will argue strongly in favour of one or the other, but you would assume Beauden Barrett will be teeing them up on Saturday. Or not. Not that it’ll make a great deal of difference if the Hurricanes’ tight five don’t front.
If people have a memory of the team’s 20-12 loss to the Crusaders in May, it’s likely to be of the pack battling for any sort of set-piece parity. Scrum and lineout; they both turned to custard.
The Hurricanes have since talked about slippery conditions and tactical naivety, but it’s hard to do much behind a beaten pack.
The Barretts and Ngani Laumape and Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-skudder all excite people and rightly so, but the most important Hurricane on Saturday might well be Sam Lousi. If there’s been a player on the roster to emerge since the 20-12 defeat it’s the 2-metre, 122-kilogram lock forward.
‘‘We’re not the biggest front five in the world but Sam’s a genuine big man and he just offers that extra little bit of physicality and bulk, which helps us,’’ said Boyd.
Ideally the injured Michael Fatialofa would partner Vaea Fifita in the second row. But the Lousi-mark Abbott combination is proving a good one and allows Fifita to play at blindside flanker. It also means Ardie Savea for Callum Gibbins on the openside is the only change from the eight who produced such a robust performance in the 31-31 draw with the British and Irish Lions.
That was a night when the acid was really on the forwards to deliver. Led by Gibbins and Brad Shields and Lousi and Abbott and loosehead prop Ben May, the Hurricanes showed the kind of abrasiveness and grunt that will be essential against the Crusaders.
Meanwhile advice from medical staff influenced the Crusaders’ decision to rest All Blacks front rowers Joe Moody, Codie Taylor and Owen Franks from the match against the Hurricanes. Moody, Taylor and Franks, started all three tests in the drawn series against the British and Irish Lions, were omitted.