Canes look at ‘big picture’

The Hurricanes appear not to be taking this weekend’s Brisbane Global 10s rugby tournament too seriously.

While that may not be music to the ears of the fans at Suncorp Stadium and promoters Duco Events, the reality is the defending Super Rugby champions are working towards “the bigger picture”, which is their February 25 competition opener in Tokyo against the Sunwolves.

“It’s a good opportunity for the boys to cap off their pre-season. A lot of them are pretty excited about having that extra space. Some of our backs are dying to have a crack. We have to keep in mind it is a good extension of pre-season, but any guys with niggles we aren’t going to risk because the bigger picture is Tokyo. We are going to have a good crack but we are not going to give it too much training time,” said Hurricanes assistant coach Jason Holland.

He added there was still scope for players at the 10s to enhance their reputations and even push for a match-day squad berth for the Sunwolves match.

Departing Wellington tomorrow night, the Hurricanes will face the Force, Toulon and Highlanders in group play on Saturday and Sunday in the 10s.

The franchise have ramped up their membership numbers to more than 6000, while their February 17 pre-season hit-out against the Crusaders in Waverley has sold out.