Hurricanes after speedster

The Hurricanes look set to pounce on one of the Mitre 10 Cup’s brightest stars for the 2019 Super Rugby season.

The Weekend Herald understands the franchise is interested in returning Auckland winger Salesi Rayasi home to Wellington.

However, with the Hurricanes expected to be offering Rayasi only a spot in their wider squad, another team could swoop on the young speedster and offer him a full contract.

It would be quite the turnaround for the 22-year-old, who briefly gave up on rugby to pursue basketball in 2016. He regained his love of the sport not long after when selected in a Samoan under-20s squad, before going on to forge a name for himself for New Zealand in the sevens squad.

And after one match for Wellington at NPC level in 2016, he was snapped up by Auckland, and this year has had a breakout campaign. Scoring nine tries in 11 matches to help the side to their first NPC final since 2015, Rayasi has played a key role. He’s among the top three highest try scorers this season, having a major impact on what was the second best attacking side in the regular season.

Today, Auckland will face a familiar foe at Eden Park, with Canterbury in town on the hunt for their fourth straight premiership title. The two sides met in the 2015 final, when Canterbury claimed a 25-23 win.

While Canterbury had a slow start to the season, suffering early losses to Tasman and Auckland, the defending champions found their way through the back end of the season and hit their peak just in time for the playoffs.