Jordie gets chance to stake claim at centre

Jordie Barrett is unlikely to get a better opportunity than he’ll have tomorrow in his bid to prove himself as a first-choice Super Rugby centre.

Barrett played in the midfield during his time at Francis Douglas Memorial College in New Plymouth, but since breaking into Super Rugby, the majority of his starts have come in the No 15 jersey.

The 21-year-old will start in the midfield for the Hurricanes in their semifinal against the Crusaders in Christchurch tomorrow night, with coach Chris Boyd giving him another run in the No 13 jersey after an impressive performance against the Chiefs last week.

“I think he’s a better 15,” Boyd said, “but he likes the midfield and he did enough for me last week to suggest that was the right way for us to start, I’m sure it won’t be how we finish.”

Barrett will likely be in for a battering at the defensive end against the Crusaders, who have shown their ability to attack through the middle of the park. In a physical match with their season on the line, Barrett gets to stake his claim for the role full-time.

He’ll line up alongside Ngani Laumape in the midfield, with Nehe Milner-Skudder remaining at fullback, and Ben Lam and Julian Savea on the wings.

Boyd took a simplified approach to assessing the task at hand.

“If they score 30, we need to score 31. I think it would be naive for us to think that we can keep all sides to zero every week — although we did in the playoffs in 2016 which was a reasonable feat.”

There’s a Super Rugby record up for grabs in the fixture, with Lam on the cusp of becoming the outright most prolific try scorer within the scope of a single season in the tournament’s history.

He’s now one of five players deadlocked on 15 tries in a season (alongside Waratahs’ wing Taqele Naiyaravoro who has also scored his 15 tries this season) and will be looking to become the first to break through that barrier.

Lam crossed for a try in the qualifying final win against the Sharks, snapping a five-game drought.

George Bridge, who has been one of the Crusaders’ most exciting scoring prospects in recent seasons, is also on the cusp of this record.

Bridge has scored 14 tries in Super Rugby 2018 and has made a habit of going big, scoring multiple tries in a game on four occasions this season.

Although Bridge sits one try behind Lam heading into this fixture, he’ll fancy his chances of catching him up.