Brad Shields named Hurricanes captain in return season

Brad Shields will captain the Hurricanes in his first year back with the team since 2018, stepping up in the absence of Ardie Savea who will return to the team in 2025.

Shields debuted for the club back in 2012 and was a premier loose forward in Super Rugby but was denied an All Blacks opportunity, so took up an offer from England and had played with the Wasps from 2018 until returning to Wellington last year.

The 32-year-old is a Hurricanes centurion already and one of two players in the 2024 squad - along with TJ Perenara - who were with the team when they won the competition in 2016.

“I’m hugely excited and honoured to be leading the Hurricanes this season,” said Shields.

“I admit, after Clarky (head coach Clark Laidlaw) told me I was really stoked, but I did feel a little apprehensive given I had been away for a few years and the quality of leadership we have at the Hurricanes. But at the end of the day, it’s a massive challenge and opportunity I’m excited for, and what makes it more exciting is there is a handful of guys here with so much experience who I know I will turn to for support. We’ll all work together with this one.”

Asafo Aumua and Jordie Barrett have been named vice captains for the campaign. Shields says his leadership style is all about walking the walk, which he hopes will suit the young Hurricanes squad.

“Actions. Always by actions is how I like to lead,” he said.

“I really want to challenge our environment because challenge always brings better performances. We’ve got a really young team this season so anywhere I can help and encourage and bring the best out of some of the young guys, and the players who have been here for a while, is what I aim for.

“The one thing that’s massive for us at the Hurricanes is connection within our community. Ultimately, we’ve got to play good rugby and perform really well if we want bums on seats, but it certainly means a lot to know we’ve got our community behind us, and we’ll do everything we can to give them a good service and make 2024 an exciting and enjoyable season to watch.”

Shields recently told RugbyPass that he was open to the captaincy, but “It’s not something I’ve put too much thought into."

He also discussed his apprehension around finding his feet in the New Zealand style of play after five seasons abroad. The nine-time England international was focussed on putting his all into preseason to ensure he found his rhythm as quickly as possible and for his teammates got the most out of his experience.

That's an attitude that has impressed Clark Laidlaw.

“The coaches and I do a lot of observing around leadership of the team, and it became reasonably apparent that we have several players that want to lead which is really exciting,” the coach said.

“But with Brad, he leads really well every day. He’s a great role model around how we want to train; he’s competitive as hell; he’s won Super Rugby; he’s a test match player; he’s bigger and stronger than he’s been before; and he knows what it takes to win and to lead. So, at the end of the day, he became an obvious choice.

“One of the best things about Brad is that he wants to be better. That’s an important trait to have as a leader as it rubs off on everyone else. We as coaches want our captain to represent what we want the team to look like. And we felt with Brad’s experience and his maturity, he’s the right man to lead us forward for this season.”