Thrush aims to end set-piece woes

Jeremy Thrush takes pride in his work. One job in particular.

The Hurricanes lock is the team’s lineout caller and it’s quite a wounding experience for him, when the ball goes astray.

Thrush readily concedes that things have gone a little awry in recent weeks but is certain they won’t on Saturday, when the Hurricanes host the Brumbies in their Super Rugby semifinal at Westpac Stadium.

‘‘It hurts. It’s a big part of our game [and one] that if we get right, we can really attack from. You get pretty disappointed when things aren’t going too right,’’ Thrush said on Thursday.

‘‘We’re not too worried about it now. The bonus has been having that extra week off, to figure out some things and fix some things, and we’ll be able to go into that game with a lot of confidence.’’

In theory, the Hurricanes lineout should be rock solid. Thrush is an expert caller, hooker Dane Coles is regarded as New Zealand rugby’s best thrower and jumpers don’t come much better than No 8 Victor Vito.

Coles’ right elbow has been very heavily strapped in the weeks since he hyper-extended it, so that could be a contributing factor to some of the recent lineout losses. But Thrush said there was no obvious reason for the Hurricanes surrendering their own ball, more a variety of little things.

‘‘Sometimes it’s a slow lift or a slow jump, so it always looks like it’s the hooker’s fault but it’s actually the guy that’s jumping for the ball that can be the problem,’’ said Thrush.

Coles has spent plenty of time working on his throw, since the Hurricanes gritty win over the Chiefs in New Plymouth.

The Brumbies are not only adept at winning their own ball, but expert in driving it too.

‘‘We’ve been the best team in the competition at defending mauls and we’re coming up against the best team in the competition at scoring tries off mauls,’’ Hurricanes tighthead prop Ben Franks said. ‘‘They’ve got eight or nine [tries] off it and done a great job.’’

Opinion can be divided on how to defend the lineout drive and Thrush said the Hurricanes would look to mix things up against the Brumbies.

‘‘It’s just identifying when we want to go up and compete [for the ball] and try and disrupt it or stay down and try to knock them over on the ground.’’

Franks suggested keeping the Brumbies out of the Hurricanes 22 was probably the best defensive method. Not that first five-eighth Beauden Barrett felt the team should fear the maul at all.

‘‘Well, we’ve countered it all right so far. We’re going to expect that from them this week, no doubt,’’ Barrett said.

‘‘But we back our lineout defence as well. I don’t think a team has scored off a lineout maul against us.’’