Canes stars missing

players to accept given their eagerness to represent the Hurricanes.

‘‘Some players don’t see it as important as the coaches and New Zealand [Rugby] do, but we get on with it and we adjust and we work towards making sure the players’ welfare is the best it can be.

‘‘They all want to play in the jersey, they all want to play every week, but some players have longer seasons than others and our All Blacks are those guys, so we’ve got to be smart about it.

‘‘A lot of that type of chat is based around how they’re feeling.

‘‘I don’t want a player out there unless he’s feeling his best, I want a guy who’s busting to be there.

‘‘Certainly in that regard our All Blacks always want to play all the time, but let’s face it, they do have tough, long seasons.’’

As for Barrett specifically, Plumtree said it was not yet known if he would feature against the Brumbies in Palmerston North in week three.

The call on Savea for this weekend, which sees Du’plessis Kirifi start at seven and Sam Henwood on the bench, was made by Plumtree in the same context mentioned above.

‘‘Ardie had a full game last week and then reported a little MCL [knee] strain after the game, so it was easy for me to say ‘well I’ve got two good other sevens that can do a job for us’. Ardie has a long season ahead so I just gave him a week off.’’

The Hurricanes appear a bit short-handed in terms of the versatility of their backs on the bench, but Plumtree wasn’t overly worried, noting Wes Goosen could cover fullback and midfield. Vince Aso can also cover the wing.

Vaea Fifita will continue his return to fitness by playing for the Hurricanes’ development side in the curtain-raiser on Saturday.