West starts against Blues
Ihaia West will start against his former team as the Hurricanes conclude their preseason schedule in Warkworth this afternoon.
West moved south this season to play for the Hurricanes, but will head back north for the preseason hit out against his old Blues side, starting with Beauden Barrett out.
He will have TJ Perenara feeding him the ball from the half back position as the Hurricanes named a near full strength 32-man squad for the outing.
Barrett will rejoin the Hurricanes squad when they face the Bulls in Pretoria to start the Super Rugby season.
The Hurricanes defeated the Crusaders 43-22 in their first preseason match two weeks ago in Greymouth, and hope to improve upon a promising first display.
‘‘As a coaching unit we were really pleased with the decision making the players showed in Greymouth,’’ coach Chris Boyd said.
‘‘While we were also delighted with how the group progressed through the Global Rugby Tens tournament, it was also really pleasing to return to New Zealand and get such positive reports about the work the remaining squad had put in.
‘‘Hopefully we will be able to continue that progress against the Blues who have already shown that they are progressing nicely in 2018.’’