SUPER RUGBY QUARTERFINAL: HURRICANES v CHIEFS
It was the last quote from a longish interview, but spoke volumes all the same.
Asked about how combative Hurricanes training had been in recent days, wing Julian Savea had this to say: ‘‘We always try and create an edge as a team and make sure we get the same intensity in the game [as] in our training, and sometimes that ends up with a few hits every now and again. But Colesy’s not there to get angry anymore, so it’s definitely a lot less.’’
Everyone has a theory about the Hurricanes’ run of recent form. Four losses in their last five starts is hardly good enough for a team with their ability, but it’s the manner of the defeats that has worried fans most.
The will has been there, particularly among the forwards, but maybe not the guy to lead the way or demand more from.
Captain Dane Coles has historically been that player, but a knee injury means running on water bottles and messages is as close as he’s come to the action this year.
Go through them one-by-one, and there isn’t a bad guy among the Hurricanes’ pack. They’re all quiet, well-mannered types, who are happy to go about their business without fuss or fanfare.
Coles isn’t far removed from that, either. It’s just that, whether it’s the playing or training field, few blokes suffer a greater case of white-line fever than him.
The hooker wants to win and compete and niggle and sledge, and he won’t let up until the final whistle goes. If that means giving a team-mate a gobful, then that’s what Coles will do.
Ricky Riccitelli has done an amazing job replacing Coles the player. But it’s Coles’ take-noprisoners mentality that has appeared harder for the team to replicate. They still have the chance.
What happened during the round-robin portion of the season is irrelevant now.
Ugly, boring, whatever. If they stand up to the Chiefs, particularly at the breakdown, they stand a good chance of winning tonight’s quarterfinal in Wellington.
‘‘They’re very good at being close to the line at the breakdown. They always have been,’’ Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd said of the Chiefs.
‘‘It was a big part of their game when Rens [former coach Dave Rennie] was there and it’s continued on. That pressure at [the] source of the ball, whether it’s scrum, lineout or breakdown, is constant from the Chiefs and that’s something we know’s coming and have to deal with.’’
When the teams met a week ago in Hamilton, referee Mike Fraser was quite hard on the attacking team at the breakdown. He didn’t think enough cleaners were keeping their feet and penalised both teams accordingly.
If you wanted to be pedantic, Boyd said, you could probably blow that penalty at every ruck. Not that he’s expecting former Chief Glen Jackson to when he wields the whistle at Westpac Stadium tonight.
‘‘I think Glen’s a very good referee,’’ said Boyd.
‘‘He’s got [a] good understanding of what’s important in the game and what’s not. Having been a good player himself he has a feel for what’s significant.’’