Hurricanes v Force 19th April 2013
Hurricanes rest and rotate for Force clash
Published: 12:19PM Wednesday April 17, 2013 Source: ONE Sport
- Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett has made five changes to his starting his line-up for the Super Rugby clash against the Western Force in Wellington on Friday night.
Jack Lam will make his first start at openside flanker, following an ACL reconstruction last year, after the Canes were thumped 28-6 by the Blues on Saturday night.
The other three changes to the pack include Dane Coles, who will return to the starting hooker position this week, Jeremy Thrush, who is back in the pack after recovering from his lower ankle sprain, and Jeffery Toomaga-Allen comes into the tighthead jersey.
The return of Thrush to the Hurricanes line-up has allowed Hammett to rest Jason Eaton after starting all seven matches this season.
TJ Perenara also gets a bit of a break with Chris Smylie given the nod to start at halfback.
"We saw last year we can't rely on each of our players to be available for every match, so we always wanted to be able to give Chris a few more minutes in the starting position at some point," said Hammett.
With Lam's selection, young gun Ardie Savea also gets a week off, with Karl Lowe on the bench.
"When we selected Ardie for his first game we wanted to give him a couple of weeks of game time and then a rest," Hammett said.
"He is still only 19 and we want to make sure he enjoys a full season of Super Rugby rather than wearing him down early in the year. We are lucky we have a lot of experience in our loose forwards to be able to support his development as a Super Rugby player."
On the bench, Reggie Goodes steps in as the back prop. Victor Vito (calf) and Ben May (elbow) were unavailable for selection this week due to injury.
This game will be the visitors first on New Zealand soil this season, a week following their two point win over the Crusaders at NIB Stadium.
Hurricanes: Beauden Barrett, Alapati Leiua, Conrad Smith (c), Tim Bateman, Julian Savea, Tusi Pisi, Chris Smylie, Faifili Levave, Brad Shields, Jack Lam, Mark Reddish, Jeremy Thrush, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Dane Coles, Ben Franks.
Reserves: Motu Matu'u, Reggie Goodes, James Broadhurst, Karl Lowe, TJ Perenara, Reynold Lee-Lo, Andre Taylor
http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-news/hurrica...-clash-5409153
Hurricanes reshuffle to sustain players' sparkle
Risky rotation or savvy selection planning? Of course the wisdom of leaving Beauden Barrett at fullback and resting key players will depend on whether the Hurricanes beat the Force at Westpac Stadium tomorrow night.
But for now, Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett is confident the five changes he's made to the side who lost 28-6 to the Blues are in the best interests of the campaign.
"I actually think it's a hardened and more experienced side," Hammett said, when asked if the selections suggested he was taking the 2-win, 6-loss Force lightly. "When you think about the individuals who are coming in, the Jeff Toomaga-Allens, Thrushy [lock Jeremy Thrush], Jack Lam and Lowey [Karl Lowe] on the bench, I think it's probably the opposite of that."
However, some will struggle with the kid gloves applied to 19-year-old openside Ardie Savea, who has been handed a mandatory rest after two matches.
"It's always been the plan and not just with him but the NZRU to make sure we look after the kid, we don't just send him out," Hammett said. "That was going to happen win, lose or draw last week."
There will be some excitement, too, at the re-emergence of Lam, a star of last year season before he was struck down by a knee injury.
Thrush and hooker Dane Coles were always going to return from ankle and hand injuries, though the latter was having scans last night after receiving a whack to his eye during training yesterday. And similarly Jeffery Toomaga-Allen takes his place at tighthead after Ben May suffered an elbow injury at Eden Park.
But it is the tinkering in the halves that furrows the brow.
Halfback TJ Perenara and Barrett were in the driver's seat during a four-match winning streak, but have now handed the controls to Chris Smylie and Tusi Pisi.
"We just think it's really important at some stage that we give Smiles a run," Hammett said of the change at No 9. "We've seen in this competition, not just with us, but all teams, that you have to be prepared to be without individuals for a certain amount of time."
Few players have trained as hard behind the scenes as Smylie, who missed last season with a shoulder injury and has looked sharp off the bench.
But considering defence is not their forte - only the Highlanders, Kings and Rebels have conceded more tries - there will be fears the Hurricanes' attacking momentum and Barrett's confidence are being compromised.
Hammett said Barrett's shift was not permanent and he did not believe the change would damage the side's ability to score points.
"One of the strengths of this squad is we have a lot of depth and we want to keep players fresh and mentally excited."
The Force were set to name their side today.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/s...layers-sparkle