Canes: Ugly win specialists
John Plumtree is a pragmatic person.
The Hurricanes coach is not one to have conniptions when his side are struggling in a game, as they have done in many close wins this year, including a comefrom-behind 29-23 Super Rugby victory over the Sunwolves in Tokyo on Friday night.
But just because there are no outward signs of anger, it does not mean he’s happy with what he has been seeing this season.
‘‘We’re not playing anywhere near well enough yet. That’s a pretty obvious statement,’’ Plumtree said.
Those were strong and ominous words from the coach of the team with the second-most points on 27, although because of the conference system they are technically fourth overall due to the Crusaders leading the New Zealand conference on 34 points.
The win on Friday came without stars Beauden and Jordie Barrett, and Ardie Savea, while the likes of Nehe Milner-skudder, Dane Coles and Gareth Evans are all still to return from injury.
With that in mind, Plumtree was pleased with the way his young bench led the fightback from 23-7 down to beat the Sunwolves.
‘‘It was potentially a banana skin game for us and for a little while it looked like we were going to slip up, but I’ve got to give credit to the boys, they hung in there and we didn’t panic at halftime.
‘‘I thought our bench came on and did a great job. There are a lot of youngsters in that group new to Super Rugby. That’s what pleased me the most – some of those young guys are starting to grow a little bit and get more confident.’’
Plumtree said that spirit shown by the squad was symbolic of how their season has gone.
‘‘I got plenty of texts from people about getting out of jail free, but that’s the game.
‘‘It’s 80 minutes, it’s tight and the boys are showing good character to get these wins, which they’ve done all year.
‘‘We’ve got to acknowledge that – there is some good leadership out on the field.’’
The next four weeks shape as big ones for the Hurricanes if they are to stand any chance of catching the Crusaders atop the New Zealand conference.
Three of their next four matches are at home, while the away trip is to Auckland to take on the Blues, so there is a chance to build some momentum heading into their week-15 bye.
‘‘I’m pretty happy with where we are in the table and we know we’ve still got some real good footballers to come back into our team,’’ Plumtree said.
‘‘We just need to stay in touch and need a good month before the next bye. That’s the challenge for us.’’
Next week the Hurricanes host the Chiefs, who are coming off a 23-17 loss to the Lions on Friday night, but who drew 23-23 with the Hurricanes in Hamilton in week five.
‘‘The boys are showing good character to get these wins.’’ John Plumtree, Hurricanes coach