Fun in the African sun
Jo’burg suits the Hurricanes just fine
It’s a long way. We’re confined to barracks. Things are different. There’s altitude and a time difference. It’s not fair. I want to go home.
There must be many rugby teams that lose games in South Africa long before they ever take the field
The Hurricanes? They’re having a grand old time in Johannesburg.
There’s been golf and sightseeing and sun, glorious sun. Plus what head coach Chris Boyd has called a genuine hard edge, at training.
"We'd far prefer to be at the Cake Tin, but if we had to be somewhere we're certainly not crying about being in Jo'burg currently." Chris Boyd, Hurricanes coach
This isn’t to say the Hurricanes couldn’t go to somewhere such as Christchurch’s AMI Stadium and win on a mud heap.
But if folk think the defending Super Rugby champions are upset about having a semifinal at Ellis Park, then they clearly haven’t seen them play much.
‘‘We’d obviously prefer to be at home but it’s 22, 23-degrees here. The ground’s hard, there’s no wind, there’s no rain; it’s a pretty nice place to be from a preparation point of view,’’ Boyd said.
‘‘Those conditions probably suit up better than playing on a wet, heavy ground so, again, we’d far prefer to be at the Cake Tin, but if we had to be somewhere we’re certainly not crying about being in Jo’burg currently.’’
This is Boyd’s third season as Hurricanes head coach.
The team has lost just once in South Africa in that time; in Durban a year ago when five players missed a curfew and the subsequent 32-15 defeat spoke of a side that had a few issues to discuss.
Whether it’s a coincidence or not, they certainly played with more conviction and cohesion after that match.
Julian Savea’s omission from the starting XV is probably the talking point this time. At least back here.
Savea has not played well in a Hurricanes jersey for some time and can’t be surprised that it’s come to this.
If any of the Hurricanes are meeting in little groups to chat about it, then they’ve got problems.
Coaches - or captains for that matter - can’t be sentimental when it comes to this part of the season. From that point of view, the return of skipper Dane Coles could hardly be more timely.
‘‘Not only does he lead by example but we’ve just finished training this morning and he was barking away at everybody. He expects bloody high standards and the boys relate to him because he’s so highly respected in our group,’’ said Boyd of Coles.
Ellis Park ought to suit the Hurricanes, where the conditions will allow them to show their speed and footwork and ball skills to the fullest. That is, provided they follow the captain’s lead first.
‘‘We’ve just got to empty the tank,’’ Coles said.
‘‘We know they’re pretty good at home so we’ve got to start well and embrace it and enjoy it. [It’s a] pretty iconic stadium, 50,000-odd fans against you and you’ve only got your team-mates [for support].
‘‘You’ve just got to go to that dark place, empty the tank and make sure we’re accurate.’’
Starts haven’t been the Hurricanes’ strongest suit of late and Coles is conscious of that too.
‘‘We’ve been talking about that all week and we really want to start well and, I guess, throw the first punch,’’ he said.
The Lions boast a fine backline and outstanding loose forwards and the breakdown - and how referee Jaco Peyper rules it - are going to be critical to the outcome.
Crucially, the Hurricanes are happy to be there and confident the conditions will allow them to play at their expansive and brilliant best. From ratbag to revelation D1 Moore aims to end drought D1 New Hurricane D5