Billy Proctor takes step towards All Blacks in brutal Drua test
It won’t do Billy Proctor’s All Blacks hopes any harm that Jason Holland has been tasked with selecting the midfielders in Scott Robertson’s new team.
Under Robertson’s strategy, each of his assistants have been given selection responsibilities in their specialist area and former Hurricanes coach Holland has been banging Proctor’s drum for a while.
Last year, after the Hurricanes beat the Highlanders in Dunedin, Holland made special mention of Proctor to The Post, noting his defensive and communication skills, as well as his increasing ability with ball in hand.
All those traits were evident again in Suvalast night as the Hurricanes beat the Drua to extend their record to 8-0 this year.
Ignore the final scoreline, it was an enormous test in Fiji. There were long periods when the Hurricanes were clearly more stressed than they have been all season.
Worryingly, hooker Asafo Aumua also departed with about 20 minutes to go with an injury to his left knee. In clear discomfort, he faces a nervous wait to see if there is structural damage, which could threaten his Super Rugby season and test hopes.
Three yellow cards reflected the enormous pressure the Hurricanes were under in the second half, and in that context Proctor’s scything run to set up Jordie Barrett’s try in the 33rd minute was a crucial play.
Proctor had already scored a try of his own in front of a sellout crowd, but that Barrett try was a big moment after they had absorbed some pressure.
While the evening kickoff took some of the sting out of the Suva heat and humidity, the atmosphere in the stands was on another level.
Despite the poor decisions of Super Rugby administrators over the years, the inclusion of the Drua stands apart as an unqualified success.
Games in Fiji are an occasion, and the Hurricanes had to go very deep against the ‘16th man’ at HFC Bank Stadium.
Proctor, TJ Perenara and Jordie Barrett put their bodies on the line on several occasions.
Barrett’s partnership with Proctor is also another plus for the latter - they are probably
All Blacks prop Tamaiti Williams and his partner, Alice Weir, have announced the arrival of their daughter, who was born three months early.
Williams, who made his test debut last year and totalled seven appearances for the All Blacks, and Weir posted on social media last week that they had welcomed Kaea Kate Williams into the world on April 7.
Under a photo of Kaea, Williams and Weir noted she weighed only 1.4 pounds (0.63kg) after she was born early at 27 weeks. A pregnancy term is usually around 40 weeks.
“We welcomed our little princess Kaea Kate Williams on 07/04/24, Williams and and Weir wrote. “Alice and baby are doing really well! But we have a long road ahead!
“We appreciate they wrote. all the prayers, love and support,” the leading combination in the competition.
In fact, one under-appreciated part of Proctor’s game is how hard he hits. Before the game in Suvayesterday, he was second to only Samipeni Finau for dominant tackles in Super Rugby Pacific, according to Opta statistics.
Proctor relies more on timing than size, and he also covers an enormous amount of ground, constantly forcing attackers into areas they don’t really want to go.
There are more individually electric No 13s in the competition - Proctor’s direct opponent on Friday, Iosefo Masi, being one of them - but Proctor’s all-round game
At HFC Bank Stadium, Suva: Hurricanes 38
(Billy Proctor try 6min, Devan Flanders try 14min, Jordie Barrett try 33min, James O’Reilly try 38min, Xavier Numia try 81min; Jordie Barrett pen, con, Aidan Morgan 4 con)
(Isikeli Rabitu try 10min, Kitione Salawa try 45min; Kemu Valetini pen, con). 28-7
Fijian Drua 15 HT: Yellow cards:
Du’Plessis Kirifi, Isaia Walker-Leawere, Caleb Delany (Hurricanes) must surely rank him among the four top midfielders in the country at present.
A few years ago, the Hurricanes were miffed when Billy’s older brother, Matt, headed overseas in his prime after largely being overlooked by the All Blacks.
They would be desperately unlucky they suffered the same fate twice. if
The Crusaders’ legacy is a major motivating factor, but hooker Brodie McAlister knows the importance of the set-piece for today’s Super Rugby Pacific cellar dwellers’ battle in Perth.
It’s 11 versus 12 at HBF Park where the bottom-of-the-log Force and defending champions Crusaders are both targeting their second win of a disappointing season.
McAlister will make his first start after returning off the bench from a long injury break in last week’s after-the-buzzer loss to the Waratahs in Sydney.
He replaces rookie rake George Bell in a rejigged front row, alongside veteran ex-All Blacks props Joe Moody and Owen Franks.
Rob Penney’s pack reshuffle smacks as more of an opportunity to rest Bell and All Black bookends Fletcher Newell and George Bell after hectic workloads rather than a wholesale dropping.
But it represents an opportunity for McAlister to make his mark, especially at the lineout where the Crusaders have had their frustrations this season.
The 26-year-old said that while the loss to the Waratahs was “gut-wrenching’’, he was relieved to be back for his first game since he tore a hamstring in the 2023 semifinal.
The hamstring setback was the worst injury of his career, he said. “It took me a bit of time [to get over] and I’ve still got to stay on top of it. The physios say it takes a good year to get it back to full strength. I’m glad I’m not a winger.’’
But after working hard in the summer, McAlister seemed set to start the season as No 1, with All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor on sabbatical.
Then, the All Blacks XV rep suffered a second setback when he dislocated a knee in the final pre-season game.
He said that was hugely frustrating but he had to quickly “put the injury aside’’ and help “the young boys’’, Bell and Ioane Moananu, get to grips with Super Rugby. “You have to be a team player.’’
While it had been “pretty tough sitting on the sideline’’ watching the Crusaders lose their first five matches, McAlister is still confident of a stronger finish.
He described the set-piece as “the gate to our game’’ and said it was critical to ”do the right stuff during the week“, talking with his locks and making sure there was an alternative way to set up a call if crowd noise became a problem again.
Heat could certainly be a factor. McAlister said Perth felt as hot as Fiji this week, and the Crusaders held a training session in the middle of the day to adjust to the sapping conditions.
The Crusaders haven’t always had it easy in Perth. They scraped a 23-23 draw in 2006, and have had three wins and two losses there. This Western Australian side, however, may not be the Force of old, but they have bolstered their backline by naming Kurtley Beale at fullback to join Wallabies halfback Nic White.
The Crusaders will face two familiar faces in starting No 8 Reed Prinsep, a former Canterbury captain, and ex-Crusaders and Canterbury hooker Ben Funnell.
Where and when:
9.45pm.
Coverage:
Stuff.
TAB odds:
Draw: $21.
Crusaders: $1.20, Force: $4.60.
Crusaders:
Chay Fihaki, Sevu Reece, Levi Aumua, Dallas McLeod, Macca Springer, Riley Hohepa, Mitchell Drummond, Christian Lio-Willie, Tom Christie (capt), Ethan Blackadder, Jamie Hannah, Quinten Strange, Owen Franks, Brodie McAlister, Joe Moody. Reserves: George Bell, George Bower, Fletcher Newell, Dom Gardiner, Cullen Grace, Noah Hotham, Rivez Reihana, Ryan Crotty.
Kurtley Beale, Bayley Kuenzie, Sam Spink, Hamish Stewart, Chase Tiatia, Ben Donaldson, Nic White (capt), Reed Prinsep, Carlo Tizzano, Will Harris, Thomas Franklin, Sam Carter, Santiago Medrano, Tom Horton, Ryan Coxon. Reserves: Ben Funnell, Marley Pearce, Tiaan Tauakipulu, Izack Rodda, Michael Wells, Issak Fines-Leleiwaa, Max Burey, Henry O’Donnell.
Western Force:
HBF Park, Perth; today,
Sky Sport 1, live updates on