Crusaders eye Joe Moody for Saturday lineup
Riccitelli fills vital role for Hurricanes
It’s impossible overstate Ricky Riccitelli’s importance to the Hurricanes right now.
What an embarrassment of hooking riches, we’d said. Dane Coles, Asafo Aumua and then Riccitelli if required. Well, he’s going to be required all right.
Having started every game so far this season, Riccitelli’s not about to get a rest thanks to confirmation Coles and Aumua are done for the campaign. Coles can’t straighten his injured knee, let alone run, and some provincial rugby for Wellington now looms as his next playing assignment.
With Aumua gone for three months, following wrist surgery, Riccitelli’s continued fitness suddenly becomes critical to the Hurricanes’ hopes of Super Rugby title success.
‘‘He’s done a really good job for us this year and we’ve got confidence in [reserve hooker] James O’reilly,’’ Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd said.
Thankfully, Riccitelli’s got a few runs on the board in this regard, having stepped in for Coles regularly during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
As for O’reilly, he must be partly cursing his luck. The Hutt Old Boys Marist man has had to head off to Bay of Plenty for regular provincial rugby, so leapt at the chance to sign with Wellington for this year and next.
Now he’s going to have Coles and Aumua for company, once that competition starts.
They’ll both be desperate to play, along with tighthead prop Alex Fidow. He’s done for this Super Rugby season too after snapping a ligament in his big toe.
Illness kept Fidow out of the roundone loss to the Bulls, before he scored a try on debut as the Hurricanes beat the Jaguares in Buenos Aires. An eyesocket fracture saw him spend six weeks on the sideline and now he needs surgery on his toe, after getting injured during his club comeback.
Had Fidow been fit he probably would’ve played off the bench in Saturday’s 28-19 win over the Lions. Chris Eves had to pack on the relatively unfamiliar tighthead side of the scrum instead, with limited success.
From 28-7 up, the Hurricanes battled for good set-piece ball and, instead of going on and winning by 40, looked pretty ordinary. Having struggled against the Sun-wolves the previous week, the side needs a more convincing performance.
It’s a worry, then, that they’re off to play one of the more terrifying teams in the competition.
The Blues, fresh from Saturday’s 24-21 win over the Waratahs in Sydney, are hardly the most accomplished side around. But they boast some freakish individual players with the ability to embarrass even the best defences.
Pity the team that goes to Eden Park and gets themselves dusted by 20 or 30 points. ‘‘At some stage that machine’s going to click and they’re going to get away,’’ said Boyd.
‘‘They’re strong, they’re physical and they’ve got a good set piece. They’re playing without luck at the moment and it’s going to turn at some stage. No doubt.’’