Canes need to banish Blues
Spoiler alert.
Another Super Rugby season is effectively over for the Blues but they still boast the power to ruin it for others.
The Hurricanes’ eight wins on the trot has them well placed for a good playoff run, assuming they beat the teams they should. Only problem is there aren’t too many left on the schedule.
From here it’s Blues (away), Reds at home, Crusaders (away), Highlanders (away), Brumbies (away), Blues at home and Chiefs in Hamilton. Three of those are probably toss-of-a-coin jobs, while you’d assume they’ll take care of the Reds and Brumbies. Which leaves those pesky Blues.
People have begun talking about Tana Umaga’s team the way they did the Hurricanes of old.
Unpredictable, expect unexpected, game-breakers.
Eight or nine times out of 10 you ought to beat them. The eternal worry is that you strike them when they’re in the mood. the England have called up Hurricanes captain Brad Shields for their June tour of South Africa.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) announced yesterday a ‘‘special exception’’ would allow Shields to be selected by England, so it was no surprise when the 27-year-old loose forward was included in Eddie Jones’ squad.
England face the Springboks in three tests next month, starting in Johannesburg on June 9, when Shields could make his
So, having worked so hard to get to this point, it would be a terrible shame to see the Hurricanes throw away a title tilt by not doing a clinical job on the Blues.
‘‘One hundred per cent. That’s been they key message,’’ Hurricanes captain Brad Shields international debut.
In a statement, NZR said Shields would be released from his contract for the three-week international window.
NZR’s head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum said the NZR believed there were clear legal grounds to decline a release request by Shields’ agent and the RFU, but they considered the circumstances in this case to be exceptional.
The Hurricanes skipper confirmed said ahead of tonight’s clash at Eden Park.
‘‘It’s the key message every week; to be ruthless in your gameplan. Doing things that we do well consistently is always a massive work-on for us and we’ve been there or thereabouts in most last November that he was moving to England in 2018, having signed a deal with Wasps, and later revealed that being constantly overlooked by the All Blacks was a contributing factor.
When Jerome Kaino suffered a season-ending knee injury on last year’s northern hemisphere tour, Shields rejected a callup from the All Blacks to join the squad as cover. The former New Zealand under-20s representative, who will finish the Super games, minus the odd 20-minute patch.
‘‘If we can just worry about being ruthless within our system, then things should take care of themselves.’’
It was interesting to see Jordie Barrett have a gallop at second Rugby season with the Hurricanes before joining Wasps, is eligible to play for England through his English parents, Nigel and Danielle.
Masterton-born Shields made his provincial debut for Wellington in 2010, before his first Hurricanes outing in 2012, and has played all his professional rugby in the capital. He was part of the Hurricanes side that won their maiden Super Rugby title in 2016. five-eighth during yesterday’s captain’s run. He regards that as best position, but hasn’t deviated from fullback too often in his brief Hurricanes’ career.
TJ Perenara also looked to have recovered from his kneeligament injury.