Hurricanes aware
THE Hurricanes are aware of the threat the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua will bring when the two sides meet in Super Rugby Pacific today at SKY Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand.
THE Swire Shipping Fijian Drua side is expected to improve on its exit lines in the match against the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Pacific today.
Coach Mick Byrne said that it was about getting the timing right when they had three quick backline players attacking the exit line.
He said this week they had worked on the situation with two wingers and the fullback.
“There are opportunities that represent themselves, we just got to choose the moments where we are on the field. Five metres out from the tryline probably is not the right time to do something like that, but maybe 25 out is different,” Byrne said.
He added the team would get better at doing it with time.
“It’s just a matter of going through this experience and learning them. Sometimes, the greatest learning comes from doing and we are doing that every week and we getting better and there’s probably more understanding where on the field we are at any given time.
“We got all our options, all our options are available but sometimes maybe this option at this part of the field.”
Hurricanes assistant coach Chris Gibbes, in an interview with Super Rugby Pacific, said his team was aware of what they would face against the Drua.
“They’re physical, they are big up front, so we’ve got to make sure we get parity up there or else we’re going to be chasing the game for long periods of time,” Gibbes said.
“We know what’s coming. They play with a lot of passion and a lot of physicality. We’ve got to match that. They’re making a lot of line-breaks, and if you get sloppy on a tackle or on a pass, they turn over ball, and they’re gone.”
He added that the Hurricanes had been playing some good footy but it was all about consistency.
“We’ve got some good stuff going on in our game, we’ve just got to nail it for longer. If we can do that against the Drua, we’re going to be right there,” he said.
He said that the speed of the Drua out wide was something the Hurricanes would look out for.
“They’ve got massive speed out wide so we’ve got to make sure we’re clinical around what we’re doing, protecting the ball when we’ve got it, making sure we’re