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All Black No 10 clash to be put on hold
By Online Editors
A potential battle between All Black first five-eighths Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo'unga has been put on hold until later in the season.
Barrett is expected to miss next weekend's Super Rugby clash when the Hurricanes visit the Crusaders in Christchurch due to All Blacks leave.
The Hurricanes' No 10 jersey will remain in good hands despite Barrett's absence and an injury to James Marshall. 30-year-old Marshall lasted just five minutes in his Hurricanes return after suffering a dislocated shoulder during the side's 20-19 season opening victory over the Waratahs.
Hurricanes head coach John Plumtree backed the side's depth at first-five following the match.
"We've obviously got Jackson Garden-Bachop to fall back on and Beauden coming back, eventually, so it's not all doom and gloom," Plumtree told media.
Plumtree said Barrett would return to the squad next week after spending time on his honeymoon.
"Beauden will be back in next week, but we won't be rushing him back. He's got a process around his contact, so we'll make a call on that when we get home."
Fletcher Smith - the starter for the season opener - shapes as the man likely to don the No 10 jersey against the Crusaders, with Garden-Bachop on the bench as cover.
Smith was a mixed bag on debut for the club after shifting from the Highlanders.
"He had some good parts and some not so good parts," Plumtree said of Smith's Hurricanes debut.
"It was a big game for him, his first start in a new jersey, and he'll just get better and better as his confidence grows.
"We didn't get a lot of good gain line for him, but I thought he defended pretty well. It's just the start for him."
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we need a damaging 12 that takes 2 men to tackle that will take pressure off the 10 while also creating space for the 10 and 13 . Leicester is the only guy that fits the mould . The next thing is " will he be able to develop a good offload " ? .
for 13 Joey manu has more x factor then reiko and jordie put togeather . he's got one season in japan before he looks to come home . he's a dark horse but his skill set is something the All Blacks don't have . if he comes home and lights up the npc in a game or 2 , id love to see him fast tracked and come off the bench for the All Blacks and thrown into the deep end to see if he can swim . Just to see if he's worth the time and effort to develop further . We all saw how good sualii did for the wallabies and joey manu is just as good as sualii . He's safe under the high ball , a solid defender , has a master offload , and he's fast and strong .
he fits the mould for razor's offload tactics .
Plus reiko and jordie have had the 12 & 13 for how long and I haven't seen anything special from either of them .
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