Hurricanes
Beauden Barrett
The Hurricanes have confirmed Beauden Barrett will sit out the next month of Super Rugby.
Barrett’s scans revealed a grade 2 tear of his medial collateral ligament (MCL) which he suffered during the Hurricanes’ match against the Crusaders on Saturday 2 May.
“Obviously I’m gutted with the injury, but fortunately it’s not season-ending for me,” said Barrett.
Nehe Milner-Skudder
Matt Proctor
The top-of-the-table Hurricanes have announced the re-signing of Nehe Milner-Skudder and Matt Proctor until at least the end of 2017.
Both Milner-Skudder, 24, and Proctor, 22, have proven themselves to be elusive members of the Hurricanes’ backline, and coach Chris Boyd said they would both be key figures in the team’s future.
“They’re both local products of the Hurricanes franchise, and it’s no secret that both of these guys are exciting talents.
The Vodacom Bulls are back at the Top of the South African Conference, taking over from the DHL Stormers who came up short in Bloemfontein on an exhilarating Saturday of Vodacom Super Rugby.
The weekend started on a disappointing note for the Cell C Sharks in Dunedin though. After a solid start for the visitors, the Highlanders turned on the heat and eventually beat the Durbanites by 48 / 15 in their opening tour match Down Under.
Saturday saw 2 cracking local derbies, both won by the home teams.
1st Up, the Toyota Cheetahs caused a minor upset when they won their 3rd successive home game against the DHL Stormers in Bloemfontein, by 25 / 17.
The home team outscored the visitors by 3 tries to 2 and thoroughly deserved their 4th win of the season. It was also only the 3rd time in 14 matches that the DHL Stormers could not score any Log Points against the Toyota Cheetahs.
The final match of the weekend was a proper humdinger in Pretoria, where the Vodacom Bulls beat their neighbours, the Emirates Lions, by 35 / 33. A total of 7 tries were scored as both sides went hammer and tongs against each other for the full 80 minutes.
Beauden Barrett
Hurricanes flyhalf Beauden Barrett will see a specialist to determine the extent of the knee injury he sustained against the Crusaders.
The All Black playmaker twisted his knee when he was squeezed between 2 Crusaders players in the Hurricanes’ thrilling 29 / 23 victory in Wellington on Saturday.
It was the Hurricanes’ 9th win out of 10 games this season, and leaves them 1 victory away from securing a play-off spot.
Coach Chris Boyd’s team face the struggling Cell C Sharks next, which may be a good opportunity to fulfill Barrett’s mandatory rest period even if he does recover in time to play.
Hurricanes (17) 29 / 23 (17) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
It was a weekend of drama and excitement in South Africa as the DHL Stormers moved to the Top of the local Super Rugby Conference and the Emirates Lions kept alive their dream of reaching the Top 6.
The Emirates Lions beat the Toyota Cheetahs by 34 / 29 in an 8-try humdinger on Saturday afternoon to record their 6th victory of the season, making 2015 their 2nd best yet but with 6 Rounds to go.
Last year, the Emirates Lions finished with 7 wins, 2 better than their 5 from 2007, but they are on track to better their best in the coming weeks.
The Toyota Cheetahs also deserve a lot of credit for never giving up as they returned to Bloemfontein with 2 bonus points.
The 2nd local match on Saturday delivered heaps of drama and the result was in the balance right until the end, but the DHL Stormers hung on for their 2nd victory over the Vodacom Bulls this season as they won by 15 / 13.
The visitors from Pretoria scored the only try of the match when Bjorn Basson went over early in the 2nd half, but the match-clinching moment came at the death when Duane Vermeulen charged down an attempted drop-goal by Handré Pollard to lead his side to their 7th win of the season.
James Broadhurst
James Broadhurst of the Hurricanes has been issued with a Citing Commissioner Warning for contravening Law 10.4 (g) Dangerous charging, during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
The incident occurred in the 50th minute of the match between the Reds and Hurricanes played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on 26 April 2015.
A Citing Commissioner Warning may be issued by the SANZAR Citing Commissioner for foul play incidents that are very close to, but in his opinion do not meet the red card threshold for citings.
Upon further review of the match footage the Citing Commissioner deemed a Citing Commissioner Warning was appropriate.
Reds (12) 19 / 35 (20) Hurricanes (Final Score)
The Reds and Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane at 08:05 SA Time (16:05 AEST, 18:05 NZ Time, 06:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
James Marshall
Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd won’t be resting any All Blacks ahead of his team’s clash with the Reds in Brisbane this Sunday.
Boyd has kept the line-up almost identical to that which faced the Waratahs last week, however, a calf injury to Nehe Milner-Skudder has left him out of selection contention, making way for James Marshall at fullback.
Matt Proctor also comes back into the starting line-up, with Cory Jane moving to the bench.
Victor Vito (calf), Dane Coles (elbow), and Blade Thomson (concussion), remain on the injury list.
Hurricanes’ flyhalf Beauden Barrett needs 2 points to surpass David Holwell’s record of 676, and become the team’s all-time leading point-scorer.
Jason Woodward
After suffering their 1st defeat of the campaign, the Hurricanes have taken a 2nd blow as Jason Woodward’s season was prematurely ended by a broken ankle.
The outside back suffered the injury playing club rugby for Upper Hutt against Oriental Rongotai in Wellington over the weekend.
While the former Rebel has just 3 Super Rugby appearances to his name this year, his loss will be a blow to the depth of the Hurricanes’ formidable backline that has set the competition alight in the 1st half of the season.
James Broadhurst
James Broadhurst has decided he likes what’s going on at the Hurricanes and is keen to stay put.
The 27-year-old Taranaki lock has re-signed with the club for another 2 seasons and said there was no team he’d rather be with until the end of 2017.
“I love this team, I love being a Hurricane, and in a way I see the next couple of years as a real opportunity to step up.
Hurricanes (19) 24 / 29 (19) Waratahs (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Waratahs did battle in Super Rugby at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 06:30 SA Time (16:30 NZ Time, 14:30 AEST, 04:30 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
Callum Gibbins
Manawatu flanker Callum Gibbins is set to stay in the New Zealand capital for another year, having recently extended his contract with Hurricanes until the end of 2016.
The 26-year-old has been with the ‘Canes since he joined as a Wider Training Group member in 2013. After 2 years in the extended squad, Gibbins signed a full contract for 2015 and has gone on to feature in all but 1 of the Hurricanes’ matches this year.
Assistant coach Richard Watt has worked with Gibbins since his arrival, and said he epitomised everything team management looked for in a player.
Hurricanes (25) 25 / 20 (3) Stormers (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and DHL Stormers did battle in Super Rugby at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Ma’a Nonu
Hurricanes midfielder Ma’a Nonu will join an elite club of 4 when he runs on against the DHL Stormers at Westpac Stadium this Friday.
The match will be his 150th Super Rugby game, with 114 of those being played as a member of the Hurricanes.
During his time with the ‘Canes from 2003 – 2011, and again this year, he has accumulated 215 points for the team, made up of 43 tries.
The 32-year-old joins Keven Mealamu, Corey Flynn, and Nathan Sharpe in the 150 club.
The Hurricanes could not have asked for a better start to the Super Rugby season, managing 6 wins from as many outings. They are in pole position on the combined standings and are expecting to improve even more as their rested players return.
“The boys are enjoying themselves because winning is way better than losing,” Hurricanes assistant coach John Plumtree told the NZME.
“But every week there’s something to fix and every week’s not perfect and we are looking to improve the whole time.”
Their defence has been the cornerstone of their success, with only 82 points being scored against them so far, 2nd to the Brumbies who have conceded a mere 80.
Their next challenge comes in the form of the Stormers who were beaten 39 / 21 by the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday. However Plumtree acknowledges the physical threat posed by the Cape outfit, boosted by their very own return of some key players.
“They’ll be hurting after what happened last week,” Plumtree said. “So we’ll be expecting them to respond pretty positively in terms of intensity.”
The Stormers may welcome back a couple of players, namely Duane Vermeulen, and Plumtree said they would bring the physicality associated with any South African team.
“We’ll have to really step up in the pack.”
The Hurricanes rested a number of All Blacks – Beauden Barrett, Ben Franks and Julian Savea – for last week’s game with the Melbourne Rebels but they will likely return this week. Hooker Dane Coles (elbow) also missed the win over the Rebels but is fit again.
Hurricanes (10) 36 / 12 (12) Rebels (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Melbourne Rebels did battle in Super Rugby at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:35 AEDT, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
TJ Perenara
All Blacks scrumhalf TJ Perenara will play his 50th match for the Hurricanes when they face the Rebels in Wellington on Friday.
Perenara made his debut for the ‘Canes against the Stormers in 2012, and has since racked up 105 points for the franchise by way of 21 tries.
The 23-year-old will pair with James Marshall this weekend in what will be the 1st start for the halfback combination, with coach Chris Boyd opting to rest Beauden Barrett.
Also taking a break this week is prop Ben Franks, along with wing Julian Savea, which has allowed Boyd to shuffle his back 3.
Matt Proctor comes in for Savea, while Jason Woodward has been given another start at fullback. Manawatu flyhalf Otere Black will also get his 1st chance for the Hurricanes, should he come off the bench.
Ardie Savea
Hurricanes flank Ardie Savea will be sidelined for up to 6 weeks after dislocating his finger in Friday’s 20 / 13 win over the Highlanders.
Hurricanes assistant coach Clark Laidlaw said 21-year-old Savea had an operation on Saturday, and would be out for between 3 to 6 weeks.
“He dislocated his finger and it popped out the side, so he had to get it pushed back in and tidied up,” Laidlaw said on Monday.
The Emirates Lions won their 2nd tour match as the Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks had to dig deep to win at home in an interesting 6th Round of Vodacom Super Rugby.
The men from Johannesburg weathered an early storm and clinched their 3rd successive win over the Melbourne Rebels, by 20 / 16, courtesy of a late try by Lionel Mapoe on Friday in Melbourne. With this victory, the Emirates Lions emulated their feats in 2007 and 2011, when they also won 2 tour matches.
On Saturday, the Toyota Cheetahs started well and were in front at the break against the Crusaders in Christchurch, but the home team took proper advantage of 2 second-half Yellow Cards against the visitors from Bloemfontein to win comfortably by 57 / 14.
2 Matches were played in South Africa on Saturday afternoon, both in less-than-perfect conditions.
First up, the Vodacom Bulls had to rely on a late penalty goal by Handré Pollard to pip the Force by 25 / 24 in Pretoria before the Cell C Sharks, playing for more than 50 minutes with 13 men against 14, following 3 Red Cards, had to dig deep to beat the Chiefs by 12 / 11 in Durban.
The DHL Stormers had a BYE.
Highlanders (3) 13 / 20 (3) Hurricanes (Final Score)
The Highlanders and Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
*******************
The Highlanders have named Dan Pryor on the openside flank for their Super Rugby derby showdown with the Hurricanes in Dunedin on Friday.
Pryor returns from injury to take the place of Shane Christie, who was forced to withdraw from the starting 15 during last Saturday’s warm-up at the venue.
His replacement in that victory over the Waratahs, John Hardie, misses out due to injury so Gareth Evans is the Highlanders’ back-row option on the bench.
Prop Daniel Leniert-Brown will potentially make his Super Rugby debut from the bench while the starting backline is unchanged from last weekend’s triumph.
The Hurricanes will be without hooker Dane Coles for Friday’s Super Rugby clash against the Highlanders but 2 other All Blacks return to the starting 15.
Coles was originally named in the starting for 15 for the game in Dunedin but was withdrawn as a precaution, following Wednesday’s training session with a hyper-extended elbow.
He has been replaced in the run-on side by Motu Matu’u, with Brayden Mitchell coming onto the bench.
There are 3 other changes to the team that beat the Blues last week.
Jeremy Thrush comes back into the starting line-up and will pair with Blade Thomson in what will be his 1st start at lock for 2015, while Cory Jane replaces Matt Proctor on the right wing.
James Broadhurst
The SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Robert Stelzner SC has accepted a guilty plea from James Broadhurst of the Hurricanes for contravening Law 10.4 (a) Punching or striking, after he was cited following a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Broadhurst has been suspended from all forms of the game for 1 week up to and including 20 March 2015.
The incident occurred in the 61st minute of the match between the Hurricanes and Blues played at FMG Stadium in Palmerston North on 13 March 2015.
James Broadhurst
James Broadhurst of the Hurricanes has been cited for alleged foul play during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Broadhurst is alleged to have contravened 10.4 (a) Punching or striking, in an incident which occurred in the 61st minute of the Super Rugby match between the Hurricanes and Blues at FMG Stadium in Palmerston North on 13 March 2015.
Upon further review of the match footage, the Citing Commissioner deemed in his opinion the incident had met the Red Card threshold for foul play.
Hurricanes (18) 30 / 23 (17) Blues (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Blues did battle in Super Rugby at
FMG Stadium, Palmerston North at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
*******************
Force (6) 13 / 42 (15) Hurricanes (Final Score)
The Western Force and Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
nib Stadium, Perth at 13:00 SA Time (19:00 AWST, 11:00 GMT, Saturday 00:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
*******************
The Vodacom Bulls lost their 2nd successive home match when the Hurricanes caused a minor upset by winning 17 / 13 at Loftus Versfeld on Friday evening.
The last time the 3-time champions lost consecutive matches at home was in Rounds 2 and 3 in 2008. Incidentally, that was also the last year the Hurricanes won in Pretoria before this weekend.
The home team could not get into gear and were heavily penalised by referee Andre Lees. These and other errors proved very costly in the end.
Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard scored all the Vodacom Bulls’ points through a try, conversion and 2 penalty goals.
In the aftermath to the match, the Bulls and Hurricanes Press Conferences were a sight to behold!
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke, wide-eyed as ever, seemed more strained than usual and once again underlined what he perceived as positives to be taken from the game. Captain Pierre Spies could not hide the shame and it appeared that he was deliberately looking down to avoid eye-contact with menbers of the Media.
On the other hand, Hurricanes Coach Chris Boys was in a juvial mode, making an early joke during the Press Conference, yet also stating that although they achieved to come “take Points” in South Africa, that he was not yet satisfied and felt that the Hurricans should improve.
Here are the Audio streams of the After Match Press Conferences:
Bulls after match Press Conference:
Hurricanes after match Press Conference:
Bulls (10) 13 / 17 (9) Hurricanes (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls and Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT, Saturday 06:10 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Ma’a Nonu
All Black Ma’a Nonu is back at centre for the Hurricanes as they prepare to face the Bulls in a Super Rugby clash at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
Nonu missed the Hurricanes’ 22 / 8 win over the Lions in Johannesburg last
weekend to attend the birth of his child, but has slotted into the starting fifteen this week.
It will be Nonu’s 145th Super Rugby appearance, and 1st for the Hurricanes since 2011.
The match will also be a significant occasion for Manawatu flank Callum Gibbins, who is set to get his 1st start for the Hurricanes.
Lions (8) 8 / 22 (11) Hurricanes (Final Score)
The Emirates Lions and Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT, Saturday 06:10 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
All fit and available All Blacks in the Hurricanes’ squad are set to suit up against the Lions in Round 1 of the 2015 Super Rugby season.
A calf injury has ended Jeremy Thrush’s hopes of getting his season underway this week however, with the lock returning to New Zealand on Wednesday. He is expected to be available for selection in 4 to 6 weeks, depending on his recovery.
Thrush’s injury has made way for Mark Abbott to grab a starting spot, while his Hawke’s Bay teammate, Geoff Cridge, has flown over to join the team in Johannesburg.
Emirates Lions Head Coach Johan Ackermann has announced his 23-man side to take on the Hurricanes in the Southern African season opener at Emirates Park on Friday evening.
Ackermann has combined both a boost of youth and experience in his side.
The match will get under way at 19:10 SA Time on Friday 13 February at Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg.
John Schwalger
Hurricanes prop John Schwalger, nephew of Mahonri Schwalger, has sustained further blood clots on his lungs and has been ruled out for a majority of the Super Rugby campaign.
The All Black first suffered the ailment, originally believed to be a chest infection, last year and played only 6 games for the Hurricanes.
He also skipped Wellington’s dismal NPC campaign.
Chris Boyd
Unlike other New Zealand franchises the Hurricanes will not rest their All Blacks back for the opening Rounds of Super Rugby.
New Zealand Rugby Union have given them dispensation over the other 4 New Zealand sides due to their demanding opening schedule, in which they play two matches in South Africa and one in Australia.
Coach Chris Boyd said it just means they will give their All Blacks an opportunity to rest later in the competition.