Proctor brothers starting for Canes
The Proctor brothers will start together for the Hurricanes for the first time when they play the Blues in a trial game at Mangatainoka tomorrow.
Younger brother Billy will start at second five-eighth with senior sibling Matt, who made his debut for the All Blacks against Japan in Tokyo on November 3, at centre in what will be the Hurricanes’ final hit-out before they face the Waratahs in Sydney, in the opening round of Super Rugby next weekend.
New Hurricanes head coach John Plumtree has named seven players who started against the Crusaders in Levin in his run-on XV.
That includes four players in the pack — Ricky Riccitelli, Jeff To’omaga-Allen, Reed Prinsep and Gareth Evans.
Former Highlanders first fiveeighth Fletcher Smith, who was originally meant to start against the Crusaders, but came off the bench, will combine with halfback Finlay Christie, who has recovered from the minor hamstring injury which kept him out of the Levin game.
Kickoff at Mangatainoka 3pm.
At a glance
is Hurricanes: Chase Tiatia, Vince Aso, Matt Proctor, Billy Proctor, Ben Lam, Fletcher Smith, Finlay Christie, Gareth Evans, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Reed Prinsep (c), Liam Mitchell, James Blackwell, Jeff To’omaga-Allen, Ricky Riccitelli, Chris Eves. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, James O’Reilly, Ben May, Alex Fidow, Fraser Armstrong, Isaia Walker-Leawere, Geoff Cridge, Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, Sam Henwood, Teariki BenNicholas, Carlos Price, Jono Hickey, Jackson Garden-Bachop, Danny Toala. Injured Warriors five-eighth Blake Green believes it could be beneficial for the club for him to be hurt right now.
The biggest scare for the Warriors this season is if Green picks up a significant injury, now that Shaun Johnson is no longer at the club.
Green is helping to get rookies Chanel Harris-Tevita and Adam Keighran up to speed for the start of the new season, but the club will get an early taste of what life is like without Green after he suffered a hamstring injury.
Thankfully for the Warriors, the injury isn’t that serious, but it will hamper his build-up for the new season.
Green was on the field during the Warriors’ training session yesterday, giving advice. But for the next few weeks it will be Harris-Tevita and Keighran running the moves in the halves.
Green believes his injury will help them grow as players.
‘‘It’s a good opportunity because they’ll get two full weeks of training without me being on the field,’’ Green said. ‘‘They’ll learn on the run and it’s probably going to help their understanding of the game even further.’’
As for his injury, the 32-yearold Green said it occurred while in the middle of a training session this week.
‘‘I picked up a hamstring strain on Tuesday at training,’’ he said. ‘‘We were just doing a skills session.
‘‘It’s nothing major to worry