Survival of the fittest
Milner-Skudder injury a concern for Canes
The Hurricanes remain hopeful Nehe Milner-Skudder will be fit to meet the Sunwolves on Saturday.
The fullback wandered off Waverley’s Dallison Park on Friday after tweaking his hamstring in the act of scoring a try, in the 33-27 Super Rugby preseason win over the Crusaders.
The Hurricanes fly to Tokyo today and, as of yesterday, hadn’t declared whether Milner-Skudder would be among the 25-strong playing contingent.
‘‘He’s had a big pre-season, he’s trained really well, he’s good to go but unfortunately he picked up a bit of a hamstring twinge but we’ll see. Hopefully he’ll make the weekend,’’ Hurricanes assistant coach John Plumtree said.
A dislocated shoulder saw Milner-Skudder miss virtually all of the 2016 season, so the Hurricanes can be forgiven for treating him with kid gloves. Particularly with Jordie Barrett fit and available to wear the No 15 jumper instead.
The long flight might be also be a factor in the final decision about whether Milner-Skudder is fit to travel or how many minutes he can play if he does go.
Beyond lock Vaea Fifita, who injured ankle ligaments at the Brisbane Global Tens, the rest of the Hurricanes are in fairly good shape and ready to start this season in emphatic fashion.
This time a year ago they went to Canberra and got thrashed 52-10 by the Brumbies. They looked anything but a champion side then, but showed that results in round one don’t determine final outcomes.
‘‘It’s probably the fittest I’ve seen the team, but that doesn’t mean anything. We were fat and slow last year and managed to do something,’’ captain Dane Coles said.
Coles’ all-or-nothing approach can hinder him at this time of year, as his body adjusts to playing again. For the third year in succession he sat out the team’s preseason programme and has now got his fingers crossed he doesn’t pull a muscle between now and Saturday.
A calf injury saw him miss the first three rounds of last year’s competition at a time when he was desperate to get on the park and establish his captaincy credentials. He’s far more comfortable heading into his second campaign in charge.
‘‘I’ve got good guys around me and I don’t have to worry about everything; that’s probably the biggest thing I learnt early in the season last year,’’ said Coles.
‘‘Just control what I can control and that’s doing my best and playing well. Actions speak louder than words and that’s the thing I’ve tried to use.
‘‘We’ve got some great leaders and lots of guys have really stepped up in that pre-season, which makes my job a lot easier. Guys like Callum Gibbins and Brad Shields have been awesome in the pre-season, just leading the boys round which has been good to see.’’
On paper, a clash with the Sunwolves isn’t the most inspiring way to start the season.
So the Super Rugby champions have tried to focus on the historic element of being the first Hurricanes team to meet the Sunwolves and the first to play in Japan. They also have the greatest respect for Sunwolves head coach Filo Tiatia, who was a member of the inaugural Hurricanes squad and went on to play 57 games for the franchise.
Tiatia, like all the members of the Hurricanes’ 50-appearance club, 100 club, All Blacks or Rugby World Cup winners, appears on various honours boards around the team’s training base.