‘We let ourselves down’
Angry Canes seek quick redemption
The Hurricanes chose a good week to not show up.
Ordinarily, if John Plumtree’s side had been hammered by the Crusaders 38-22, the angst-ridden glare of Kiwi rugby fans would have been focused on them.
But with the Highlanders squeaking past the Reds, the Chiefs getting shellacked by the Brumbies and the Blues well off the pace in a loss to the Sharks, the hand-wringing will be shared collectively amongst at least three of the New Zealand conference teams.
Still, that doesn’t take away from what was a poor performance from the under-manned Hurricanes.
They were 24-0 down at halftime after what was probably their worst 40 minutes of rugby since the 52-10 thrashing at the hands of the Brumbies in round one of the 2016 season.
Plumtree said the team was hurting in the aftermath.
‘‘There will be some pretty angry players in there [changing room] that think we let ourselves down,’’ he said post-match.
‘‘Normally, we like a sevenday turnaround. But this team is pretty keen to get back out there to show that we’re better than that.
‘‘That will be our attitude. We’re not going to panic too much, we will just regroup and build towards next week.’’
The Hurricanes rallied in the second half after both sides made a slew of changes, which gave Plumtree some optimism.
‘‘If we drop our heads and stop trying, that will be the worst thing that happens tonight. On that side of it, I’m really pleased. Colesy [Dane Coles] can regroup the boys well.’’
Plumtree can also be consoled by the fact he will have Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Ngani Laumape, Ardie Savea and Vaea Fifita available to select in his starting XV against the Brumbies in Palmerston North next week.
Perenara and Laumape came off the bench on Saturday because of All Blacks minutes restrictions, while Savea was rested for the same reason.
Barrett is back from his honeymoon and working his way
‘‘We’re not going to panic too much, we will just regroup.’’ John Plumtree
up to peak fitness, while Fifita played 50 minutes for their development team in the curtain-raiser on Saturday as he works his way back from a hamstring injury.
Nehe Milner-skudder will make his return at some stage in the next month or so.
But those players will struggle to fix the Hurricanes’ problems with their set piece, which was a big concern for Plumtree, especially the lineout.
‘‘There were a whole lot of individual errors happening in the lineout, whether it was poor execution or their reads on defence.
‘‘We just can’t afford to let that happen going forward, we have to be able to win our set piece so we can get our game going.’’
Like any good captain would, Coles tried to take individual responsibility for lineout’s failings.
‘‘I have to take some of the heat for that. They’ve got a pretty good defensive read on lineouts, and [we just need to] be a bit more smarter around space at the front. You’ve got to give them the respect they deserve and we should have just taken that.
‘‘But we’ve got some young characters in those roles, and we’ve got to learn from that and get better.’’
Given the surprising margin of victory the Brumbies scored over the Chiefs (54-17), it turns Friday’s match from what appeared on paper to be relatively straightforward for the Hurricanes into a much bigger challenge.