Jordie set to kickstart Canes
The Hurricanes have added another first five-eighth to their roster as the imposing figure of Jordie Barrett gets set to return in the No 15 jersey in Hamilton on Sunday.
Former Auckland and Blues playmaker Simon Hickey, 26, has been signed by the Hurricanes, the club confirmed yesterday, ahead of their team announcement to face the also-winless Chiefs in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
All Blacks utility Barrett will be named at fullback for his first postCovid match after missing defeats to the Blues and Crusaders due to a shoulder injury.
In an eventful week for the Hurricanes when the departure of assistant coach Carlos Spencer was confirmed, it means they will be at full strength for the first time this year as they seek a moraleboosting victory. All Blacks star loose forward Ardie Savea made his return from a long layoff postknee surgery while Barrett was sidelined.
Jackson Garden-Bachop will likely wear No 10 again, but Hickey provides some depth and competition in the pivot’s spot, a troublesome area for the Hurricanes since Beauden Barrett’s departure to the Blues.
Fletcher Smith also spent time in No 10 this season and played well in the win over the Chiefs in March, but was usurped by Garden-Bachop in the two matches of the New Zealand competition.
Hickey was a schoolboy star in Auckland and captained the New Zealand Under-20 side, making his debut for Auckland in 2012 and the Blues in 2014.
In the last five years Hickey split his career between France and Scotland, signing with Edinburgh in 2018. He was overtaken as starting first-five by Jaco van der Walt.
Hickey returned home just before the Covid-19 pandemic with the ambition of playing Super Rugby again, and had his first training with the Hurricanes in Wellington on Wednesday.
Hickey isn’t expected to be considered for the Hurricanes’ matchday 23 for several weeks as he readjusts to contact training.
Hickey has signed with the Hurricanes until the end of 2021.
The Hurricanes team to face the Chiefs will be named today.
Meanwhile, Chiefs assistant coach Tabai Matson refuses to be pessimistic despite his team’s poor start to the competition.
Listen to his sound bites and you could end up believing that crunching and clattering is actually the sound of the Chiefs building
CRUSADERS RING CHANGES a unit capable of winning the competition.
‘‘Five games to go. Do the maths on that,’’ Matson says. ‘‘That’s a lot of points. Yeah, absolutely.
‘‘Five wins. We are margins away, and I think that is the great thing about high performance sport. If you are 2 per cent off you lose, and if you are 2 per cent up you win.’’
Percentage points aside, it’s the ones on the scoreboard that matter. Which is where the Chiefs are simply not delivering.
After three losses, the most recent an 18-13 defeat to the Crusaders when the miserable Christchurch weather was was matched by the visitors’ collective mood afterwards, the Chiefs’ title hopes are on the cusp of perishing.
If they can storm home to win the domestic competition after such a rotten start, it would be some story.
Season-ending injuries to All Blacks Atu Moli, Luke Jacobson and Nathan Harris, while Angus Ta’avao isn’t expected to be available until after next weekend’s bye at the earliest, haven’t done the Chiefs any favours.
Yet the Chiefs, says Matson, aren’t curling up for anyone.
‘‘Someone said you can measure success by going from failure to failure, without losing enthusiasm and I feel like there is a lot of enthusiasm every week to prepare,’’ Matson says.