Canes brace for the real deal

Cakewalks or tough inter-conference contests? Friday will tell us which have been more beneficial.

After 83-17 and 71-6 wins over the Sunwolves and Rebels to start their Super Rugby title defence, the Hurricanes now head to Hamilton. There they’ll meet a Chiefs side who’ve had to roll their sleeves up to beat the Highlanders and Blues.

It all makes for an intriguing encounter between two quality New Zealand sides who’ve registered maximum points from the first two rounds by vastly different means. Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd has a hunch about whose preparation has been best.

‘‘I think we’d all agree that the Chiefs will be happier to have 10 points [and] to have played the Highlanders and Blues, than perhaps we would’ve playing the Sunwolves and the Rebels,’’ Boyd said.

‘‘But we’re still pleased to have 10 points and still pleased to have got the dust and the rust out and look forward to carrying on.’’

The Hurricanes have scored 24 tries in their first two games but, more importantly to them, conceded none in the win over the Rebels. That probably says more about the calibre of their opposition, though.

But there’s been nothing soft about the Chiefs’ draw.

‘‘Obviously they had a streak against them of six or seven [losses to the Highlanders] so to go down to the Highlanders and win is a good effort and I thought they were quite clinical at times against the Blues,’’ said Boyd.

Both the Hurricanes and Chiefs began their campaign without some key, injured personnel. On the Hurricanes’ side, No 8 Blade Thomson is the only player they’ve lost since, so not only have they produced plenty of points, they’ve come at a relatively low cost.

It’s unlikely the Chiefs defence will yield as readily as the Sunwolves and Rebels did and you’d expect the Hurricanes to pare their game back. However, Boyd suggested any tactical decision along those lines would be made on the run.

‘‘We have a bag of tricks and the opposition will tell you what you’re capable of doing and how often and when and so forth,’’ Boyd said.

‘‘But it’s a tough question around what’s best for you and what’s not [in terms of build-up]. We’re pleased to get away to the start we have but we know there’s a lot of work to be done yet.’’

It’s not easy for players to go from, practically, scoring at will, to suddenly having to work hard for points. But Boyd said he didn’t believe ‘‘anything will be different’’ about the Hurricanes’ preparation this week. There’ll just be an added sense of anticipation.