Canes can’t be pessimistic
It seems we can forget what we thought about the Hurricanes.
They’re still a great danger to themselves, all right. Friday’s 38-28 win over the Waratahs only reinforced that. Just for a different reason than we’ve become accustomed.
The accepted wisdom is that flamboyant teams, such as the Hurricanes, will eventually have to rein it in. That frilly stuff might work against Super Rugby’s nohopers, but it won’t win you a title.
Championship-winning performances are built on accuracy and patience; a dogged determination to plug the corners, force errors and kick your goals. Well, turns out that, if there’s a threat to the Hurricanes’ hopes of back-toback Super Rugby titles it’s not them being too loose, but too tight.
The Waratahs won this competition back in 2014. They’re not as good now, but still contain a sprinkling of Wallabies including the world class pair of Michael Hooper and Israel Folau. At halftime on Friday, the Hurricanes led them 33-7. That was without captain Dane Coles or the attacking threats of Julian and Ardie Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder. The Hurricanes even did without playmaker Beauden Barrett for 10 of those 40 minutes, while he sat in the sinbin.
It wasn’t just the five tries they scored in the half. It was the way they were scored and the others that might’ve been scored too, but for the bounce of the ball. Where some teams see an opportunity to pick and go or try a high kick, Barrett and the Hurricanes are imagining far greater possibilities.
‘‘I put a lot of pressure on my team-mates to give me the information, just to see what’s in front of them,’’ Barrett said. ‘‘When I’m playing the best footy, I’m just reacting to what’s around me and that’s where we want to get this team.
‘‘That’s the challenge each week. This team will grow if we can all just nail the individual role and [the players can] see what’s in front of them.’’
Not everyone possesses Barrett’s vision, though, nor the speed and skills to turn dreams into reality. But within the team there’s certainly the potential to play some quite uplifting rugby and maybe even expand what people thought possible at this level.
‘‘One-hundred per cent. The excitement and faith I got [in the team] throughout last season, that grew immensely and I can sense we’re starting to build,’’ said Barrett. ‘‘Still got a lot of work to do [but] most of the players are still here from last year and it’s just about [building] that belief again.’’
That’s why all the Hurricanes were so downcast after the Waratahs game. They lost faith in their ability to do the extraordinary and convinced themselves that accuracy and structure were the best options at 33-7.