All Blacks great reacts to Hurricanes’ ‘luxury’ of 14 starting changes

Super Rugby Pacific front-runners the Hurricanes have made a staggering 14 changes to their starting side to play the Melbourne Rebels, with All Blacks prop Tyrel Lomax the only member of last week’s First XV to retain their spot.

Rugby World Cup winner Mils Muliaina has described the headline-grabbing series of selections as “a luxury” for the Canes following their unbeaten start to the new campaign.

The Hurricanes shot out of the blocks with a 30-point demolition of the Western Force and a golden point win over the Queensland Reds in Melbourne. But their next two matches proved the Canes as worthy contenders after overcoming Kiwi rivals.

After hard-fought wins over the Blues and Crusaders, coach Clark Laidlaw will test his team’s depth in round five while welcoming back club captain Brad Shields and Jordie Barrett.

“A couple of changes? More like a clean sweep for the Hurricanes,” Muliaina said on Stan Sports’ The Call Up. “What a luxury and so they should.

“Now is the time for Clarke to have a look at his squad, rest a few players.

“Awesome, fantastic to see Jordie Barrett back so he’ll bring plenty of experience and I’m sure he’s pretty hungry after being out for a few weeks.

“A debut for (Ngane) Punivai in the centres. But also… TJ Perenara, who was influential when he came off the bench (against the Crusaders). Nice to see him get a start, especially after the long injury spell that he’s had.

“This is just a Hurricanes side that’s full of confidence. They’ve got great depth and as you say, this is going to be a hard task for the Rebels to come.”

Halfback TJ Perenara had gone more than 450 days without playing a game of rugby while recovering from a devastating Achilles rupture that he suffered while on All Blacks duty.

But Perenara's return to Hurricanes colours during pre-season was a popular moment amongst fans in New Zealand, with the veteran halfback going on to play two matches so far in the regular season off the pine.

With in-form Cam Roigard moving out of the matchday 23 altogether, Perenara will run out in the No. 9 jersey for the first time this season – another testament to his determination and resilience.

Meanwhile, the Melbourne Rebels have made five changes to their starting side ahead of the trip to Palmerston North, including a key change at tighthead with Taniela Tupou dropping back to the bench.

“I don’t want to talk about the Hurricanes because you can’t make 14 changes and your team looks this good. It’s ridiculous,” former Wallaby Morgan Turinui added with a smile.

“You get to bring of course Barrett in, you get Perenara in to start, you get (Brad) Shields there as a skipper who was trying to tell me at the start of the season, at the season launch in Auckland, ‘Oh we’re under the radar, we’re a young side.’ They’ve been excellent.

“The Rebels, they’ve got some changes of course themselves, most notably in the front row Taniela Tupou played 30-odd minutes starting last week, he drops back to the bench. I thought Sam Talakai was good once he came on.”