At a glance
Canes No 9 embraces Perenara pressure
Jonathan Taumateine offers a nervous laugh at the prospect of roaring at his Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea and other senior forwards in the middle of Sky Stadium.
‘‘It’s a big role to take on but once we’re out on the field that’s part of it,’’ said Taumateine, who dons the Hurricanes No 9 jersey for the first time tonight, against the Blues.
‘‘I’ll just have to give it to them. If they give me the evils then so be it, just doing my job.’’
There’s equal parts nerves and excitement, the 24-year-old from Counties-Manukau says, stepping into the sizeable boots of TJ Perenara. Part of Scott Robertson’s 2016 New Zealand under-20 squad, Taumateine played twice off the bench last year in Napier and Dunedin and was behind the now-injured Jamie Booth in the pecking order.
Perenara’s departure to Japan also opened up a captain’s vacancy which Savea embraced, coinciding with his 100th match for his beloved Wellington franchise in their Super Rugby Aotearoa opener.
‘‘We’ve encouraged JT to be himself, it’s his team, run us around and tell us what to do,’’ Savea said. ‘‘It doesn’t matter if you’re talking to me or anyone, you boss us around. He’s the new man, he’s got the opportunity and I’m really excited for him.’’
New halfback, new captain, and a novelty for the Hurricanes as they play their first season opener in Wellington in eight years.
That was also against the Blues, a 34-20 defeat in 2013, before they jetted to Durban, Johannesburg, Canberra, Tokyo, Pretoria, Sydney and Cape Town in round one.
Covid-19 put a stop to all that, and the Hurricanes face the first of what could be six matches against the Blues this year if the trans-Tasman bubble doesn’t open soon. Last time they met was a cliffhanger, a 29-27 win to the hosts in the battle of the Barrett brothers, with Jordie kicking the winning conversion in Wellington in July.
The gravity of the occasion sank in for Savea yesterday at the Cake Tin, after the jersey presentations and speeches, his older brother Julian back starting for the Hurricanes for the first time since July, 2018.
The younger Savea vividly recalled his debut in 2013 against the Waratahs at the stadium, particularly his big brother scoring in the corner by the players’ entrance.
‘‘He’s in the best nick I’ve seen him, he’s happy and looks like he’s free and just playing the game, and that’s a dangerous Bus. I’m very excited to share the field with him again.’’
Perenara aside, the Hurricanes have a familiar look and coach Jason Holland could even afford to leave All Blacks callups Du’Plessis Kirifi and Peter Umaga-Jensen on the bench.
Holland went for bulk and lineout options with his loose trio of Savea (7), Devan Flanders (8) and Vaea Fifita (6), and said the skipper would still feature a lot at No 8 this season. Billy Proctor got the 13 jersey alongside Ngani Laumape, and fullback
Barrett will likely finish the match at first five-eighth as designated backup to Jackson Garden-Bachop.
The Blues are without Beauden Barrett but are bookmakers’ favourites with their abrasive pack and gifted individuals like Hoskins Sotutu and Caleb Clarke who made giant strides last year.
Another tense, tight encounter beckons and it could come down to the respective boots of Barrett or Otere Black.
For the Hurricanes, a fast start is mandatory. Last year they were flogged by the Stormers in round one, and in Super Rugby Aotearoa stumbled against the Blues in Auckland and Crusaders at home before winning five straight.
Said assistant coach Cory Jane: ‘‘Ideally we can get it right because it’s hard playing New Zealand teams every week and if you fall behind it’s hard to catch up.
‘‘The year we won it [2016], I think we beat the Crusaders by 80 points in the last pre-season game and the Brumbies beat us by 50 [in round one]. You’ve got to take what you get from pre-season and get out on the field and not muck around, especially in this competition.’’ FOR THE LATEST ON LAST NIGHT’S HIGHLANDERSCRUSADERS MATCH GO TO STUFF.CO.NZ