Not bad for starters
Far from perfect but Hurricanes are well placed
If John Plumtree had known how his first six weeks as Hurricanes coach would go, he would have taken being joint top of the New Zealand conference.
That’s where his side sits after six rounds of Super Rugby following their grinding 34-28 win over the Stormers in Wellington on Saturday and the Crusaders’ shock 20-12 loss to the Waratahs later in the evening.
It hasn’t been an easy journey for the Hurricanes, with three of their four wins coming by fewer than six points, while there was a hiding from the Crusaders and a draw with the Chiefs.
They were without at least 12 of their squad members on Saturday night through a combination of All Blacks rest for Dane Coles, TJ Perenara and Ngani Laumape, injuries and a family bereavement.
It meant James O’Reilly and Danny Toala got the callup from club rugby to sit on the bench.
Neither got on, but the fact they were there showed not only have frontline players such as Asafo Aumua, Toby Smith, Vince Aso, Gareth Evans and Sam Lousi gone down injured, but so have depth players in the squad such as James Marshall, Jonah Lowe and Billy Proctor.
Plumtree said for those reasons, it had been hard for the team to build any momentum through the season.
‘‘If I penciled in the strongest team we had at the start of the year, there are a lot of guys who are potentially not there.
‘‘So we’re getting tested, not just from within the squad, but also replacement players coming in to help us out.
‘‘That’s why I’m really proud of the team. We’re into round seven next week and we haven’t been able to build any continuity. Where we are at the moment, we’re doing pretty well.’’
Coles, Perenara and Laumape will all be back next weekend and none of their other All Blacks need a rest, so Plumtree will have his full complement of All Blacks for the third time this season.
Even with his All Blacks fully stocked, Plumtree was under no illusions about the magnitude of the challenge they faced in trying to hand the Crusaders back-toback losses next Friday night.
The Stormers ran roughshod over their set piece on Saturday, John Plumtree, Hurricanes coach
which was where Plumtree said they would need to improve next week, but their focus would be spread wider than that.
‘‘The Crusaders are an allround side. They can hurt you up front, they can play rugby, they can kick well, so you’ve got to be able to play well in all departments.
‘‘We know what they’ll try to do to us, but we’ve got to be able to step up and walk towards that because it’s going to be here in six days time.’’
Once they get through the Crusaders and the Highlanders in Dunedin the following weekend, the Hurricanes have a bye. After that their schedule does start to ease, outside a trip to South Africa to play the Sharks and Lions.
They don’t have to play more than five matches in a row, which means that All Blacks restriction won’t come into play.
They also play the Rebels, Chiefs and two matches against the Blues. Sure, those aren’t easy matches, but they’re easier than playing the Crusaders twice in the space of six weeks.
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‘‘Where we are at the moment, we’re doing pretty well.’’