The Hurricanes and Chiefs will face each other at the FMG Stadium Waikato on Sunday 5 July at 05:35 SA Time. The Hurricanes come off a bye while the Chiefs lost to the Crusaders (13-18) last weekend. It’s a crunch battle for the Chiefs and Hurricanes, both winless in Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa, and they need to get on the board this weekend or their championship-winning dreams may be dashed.
The Hurricanes last played the Chiefs a few days before COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the original Investec Super Rugby season. In that game, the Hurricanes won 27 – 24 thanks to an 84th-minute penalty kicked by Jordie Barrett to steal victory off the Chiefs in Hamilton. The Chiefs have had to mull over that match all through lockdown, and they finally get their chance for revenge in front of a home crowd on Sunday.
The Chiefs played their best game of the competition against the Crusaders last weekend and still fell just short. But they are confident a victory is on its way. To be fair, their last two encounters have been played in pretty average conditions, and they showed glimpses of their best in the Crusaders encounter. The Hurricanes also came up just short against the Crusaders, but they’ve had a bye to fine-tune their work-on’s and freshen up.
Line outs have been an issue for the Hurricanes, so that’s one area where they will have focussed, but with both sides now desperate for a win to keep their season alive, this encounter is going to be fiery.
Chiefs Head Coach Warren Gatland has made five changes and one positional change.
An unchanged forward pack was announced, however, injury has forced Gatland’s hand to make changes to the side’s backline. Anton Lienert-Brown has been sidelined with a concussion. Rookie Quinn Tupaea shifts into inside-centre with Tumua Manu moving into the starting line-up at outside-centre.
On the bench, young lock Tupou Vaa’i and rookie loose-forward Dylan Nel return to the twenty-three in the only two changes to the replacement forwards. Experienced halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi returns to the twenty-three and is joined by fellow Bay of Plenty teammate Kaleb Trask. Waikato’s Solomon Alaimalo completes the line-up in jersey twenty-three.
Gatland said they need to apply their learnings from previous encounters to deliver the performance they are after.
“Last week against the Crusaders we put on a solid performance however a few crucial moments cost us the win in a tight battle. We need to execute those opportunities to gain the win.”
“There is a great rivalry between our two teams and the boys are eager to get one back after falling short before lockdown. The Hurricanes have some elusive attacking players and are a dangerous team with ball in hand. We know they will be refreshed and eager to get a win, just like us, so it will be a tight tussle and one we know families and fans will enjoy,” finished Gatland.
Chiefs: 15. Damian McKenzie, 14. Sean Wainui, 13. Tumua Manu, 12. Quinn Tupaea, 11. Etene Nanai-Seturo, 10. Aaron Cruden, 9. Brad Weber, 8. Pita Gus Sowakula, 7. Sam Cane (C), 6. Lachlan Boshier, 5. Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 4. Mitchell Brown, 3. Nepo Laulala, 2. Bradley Slater, 1. Aidan Ross. Replacements: 16. Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17. Reuben O’Neill, 18. Ross Geldenhuys, 19. Tupou Vaa’i, 20. Dylan Nel, 21. Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22. Kaleb Trask, 23. Solomon Alaimalo.
For the Hurricanes Jordie Barrett will make his return to Investec Super Rugby, the 22-year-old has been nursing a shoulder injury for the first two rounds of the competition, which meant Chase Tiatia took over as fullback. Upfront, Scott Scrafton is the sole change made to the forward pack which went up against the Crusaders two weeks ago – replacing Vaea Fifita at lock. Peter Umaga-Jensen also gets his first start over Vince Aso and Kobus Van Wyk gets the nod ahead of Wes Goosen.
The Hurricanes assistant coach, Chris Gibbes says there’s a lot on the line. “It’s going to be a huge clash for both teams who are desperate to win. Both sides are playing good rugby, without the results to match. We need to go out there stay focussed and meet the intense physicality that the Chiefs are going to bring at home.”
Hurricanes: 15. Jordie Barrett, 14. Kobus Van Wyk, 13. Peter Umaga-Jensen, 12. Ngani Laumape, 11. Ben Lam, 10. Jackson Garden-Bachop, 9. TJ Perenara [cc], 8. Ardie Savea, 7. Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6. Reed Prinsep, 5. Scott Scrafton, 4. James Blackwell, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 2. Dane Coles [cc], 1. Fraser Armstrong. Replacements: 16. Ricky Riccitelli, 17. Ben May, 18. Alex Fidow, 19. Vaea Fifita, 20. Liam Mitchell, 21. Jamie Booth, 22. Billy Proctor, 23. Wes Goosen.
Opta Facts
The Hurricanes are undefeated in their last four Super Rugby matches against the Chiefs (W3, D1); however, neither side has been on a longer unbeaten run in the history of this fixture.
In the last five Super Rugby matches where the Chiefs have hosted the Hurricanes, each side has picked up two wins apiece, with each of those results decided by a single-figure margin.
The Hurricanes have lost their opening two games of Super Rugby Aotearoa, the last time the Wellington-based side endured a longer losing run was a three-match span from May to June in 2018.
The Chiefs have averaged the most time in possession per game (17min 52sec) of any team in Super Rugby Aotearoa so far; indeed, they have also averaged the fewest missed tackles per game (15.7) of any side in the campaign.
Ben Lam (Hurricanes) has had a try involvement in each of his previous four Super Rugby matches against the Chiefs (3 tries, 1 try-assist).