Hurricanes searching for their clinical side
The absence of Joe Moody and Owen Franks doesn’t diminish the Hurricanes’ challenge.
The Crusaders remain the Super Rugby benchmark for the Hurricanes’ pack. One they’ll try to measure up to without their own first-choice props Jeff To’omaga-Allen and Toby Smith.
Provided they show some respect for the football, the Hurricanes’ backs ought to have the Crusaders’ measure, meaning the forwards will have the toughest assignment at Westpac Stadium on Saturday night.
‘‘We’ll definitely have to lift at home to beat those boys,’’ Hurricanes tighthead prop Ben May said.
It’s been a mixed start for May and company. The Bulls beat them up in Pretoria, then the more-combative Hurricanes beat the Jaguares 34-9 in Buenos Aires.
The absence of a consistently stable scrum was a feature of both fixtures. The Jaguares put some real heat on at Estadio Jose Amalfitani, although that might’ve been due to a breakdown in communication between the Hurricanes and referee Nick Briant.
‘‘So we talked about getting that gap during the week but I don’t believe there was much of a gap there, so we sort of had to adjust to that,’’ said May.
‘‘Then it was a bit of a lottery from there. It’s tough when you don’t get that gap. We’ll have a look at it and see how we go; we’ll have to be a lot better next week against a good Crusaders pack.’’
Sunday’s score suggests the Hurricanes overcame the Jaguares fairly comfortably. The reality is they had to work very hard; not least when May was sinbinned in the second half.
He described his off-the-ball hit as ‘‘a poor decision’’ but one indicative of the forwards’ determination to make up for the previous week’s loss.
‘‘We let the Bulls play and that’s not really how we defend. There was an emphasis this week on getting set, getting on the body and getting off the line and putting some pressure on them,’’ May said.
Restricting the Jaguares to three penalty kicks was indicative of that. Where things looked less cohesive was when the Hurricanes had the ball.
‘‘Probably when we got a bit wider, in those channels, we were probably lacking a little bit there. Just a bit of continuity I think,’’ said May.
‘‘Our forwards probably carried reasonably well, but it definitely made a big difference having Beaudy [Barrett] back running the ship and finding that kick space. Ngani [Laumape] did a good crosskick to Jules [Savea] as well [so] we’re still getting there I think.’’
Head coach Chris Boyd isn’t too prescriptive, preferring to let the team make their own decisions, but expecting the players to execute them.
The Jaguares weren’t good enough to punish the Hurricanes’ errors, but the Crusaders will be.
‘‘It took us a long time to decide to kick a goal [against the Jaguares] so we kept battering away looking at the five or seven-point option, rather than the three,’’ Boyd said.
‘‘I’m pretty relaxed about that but if you’re going to turn down three, chasing five or seven, you need to make sure you’re a little bit more clinical than we were at times.’