Tight five hold key to Canes’ success
The John Plumtree era, on paper, looks a lot like the Chris Boyd era at the Hurricanes.
The star-studded backline is as strong as ever, the loose forwards look a solid group, but it’s the tight five where, as in previous seasons, the questions lie.
That combination yielded a championship, runners-up and two semifinal finishes in Boyd’s time in charge, so with a similar formula, you would expect similar results.
Starting with the backs, there is quality all over the show in what should be the competition’s best backline.
TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett will form the best 9-10 pairing in the New Zealand conference.
Depth is their biggest advantage in the midfield and outside backs. The likes of Jordie Barrett, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Vince Aso and Wes Goosen can play multiple positions to help fill the gaps when the All Blacks take their rest breaks.
Ngani Laumape and Matt Procter will lead the midfield, while Ben Lam is one of the premier wings in the competition.
All that is without mentioning the potential of young guns Billy Proctor and Salesi Rayasi, who are sure to get a run against some of the lesser teams.
The main losses from the backline are Julian Savea and Ihaia West, who were both backups last season.
There aren’t too many holes to pick in the loose forwards, even with the departures of last season’s captain Brad Shields and Blade Thomson.
Heiden Bedwell-Curtis looks a good pickup from the Crusaders. Gareth Evans’ continued development saw him rewarded with an All Blacks callup late last year. Ardie Savea has gone to another level. Vaea Fifita has a point to prove, as does, to a lesser extent, Reed Prinsep.
Then there’s the muchmaligned tight five, which lost its best lock, Michael Fatialofa, in the off-season, before its secondbest lock, Sam Lousi, picked up a serious pectoral injury in preseason.
Fifita might end up spending a lot of time at lock until Lousi is fit, but at some point, someone out of Geoff Cridge, Liam Mitchell and Isaia Walker-Leawere will have to take their game up a level – the latter two impressed at provincial level last season, while the former is talented, but injury prone.
The front row hasn’t lost anyone, so should be able to perform as well as they did last year. Dane Coles is back to fitness and will add a lot at hooker, as well as in his captaincy.
Really, the tight five has probably played above its reputation in previous seasons. Teams can’t make four consecutive semifinals with a terrible tight five. Some might say they would have won a title or two more if they had been better, but the flipside of that is they might not have made the semifinals if they had played worse.
Still, teams will likely target them, as they always tend to do.
If they can stand up and be counted, and a couple of young locks can find their feet, then it should be another successful year for the Hurricanes.