Canes seek their clinical side

The absence of Joe Moody and Owen Franks doesn’t diminish the Hurricanes’ challenge.

The Crusaders remain the Super Rugby benchmark for the Hurricanes’ pack. One they’ll try and measure up to without their own first-choice props Jeff To’omaga-Allen and Toby Smith.

Provided they show some respect for the football the Hurricanes’ backs ought to have the Crusaders measure, meaning it’s the blokes wearing the single digits who’ll have the toughest assignment at Westpac Stadium on Saturday night.

‘‘We’ll definitely have to lift at home to beat those boys,’’ Hurricanes tighthead prop Ben May said.

It’s been a mixed start to the season for May and company. The Bulls beat them up a bit in Pretoria, before the Hurricanes produced a more combative effort in beating the Jaguares 34-9 in Buenos Aires.

The absence of a consistently stable scrum was a feature of both fixtures. The Jaguares put some real heat on, at Estadio Jose Amalfitani, although that might’ve been due to a breakdown in communication between the Hurricanes and referee Nick Briant.

‘‘So we talked about getting that gap during the week but I don’t believe there was much of a gap there, so we sort of had to adjust to that,’’ said May.

‘‘Then it was a bit of a lottery from there. It’s tough when you don’t get that gap. We’ll have a look at it and see how we go; we’ll have to be a lot better next week against a good Crusaders pack.’’