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Hurricanes name both their travelling All Blacks to start
By Online Editors
TJ Perenara and Jordie Barrett are set to start for the Hurricanes in the Super Rugby opener against the Stormers on Sunday.
It’ll be the first time Perenara has led the Hurricanes in his new capacity as official co-captain.
The 23-man squad also boasts the experience of Ngani Laumape at second-five and Gareth Evans in the number-eight jersey.
Fletcher Smith has earned himself a start as first-five with Jackson Garden-Bachop on the bench.
Several Hurricanes debutants have been named in the starting line-up, including former Blues lock, Scott Scrafton and former Highlanders prop, Tyrel Lomax.
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Both have had game time in pre-season, but Scrafton says this is what they’ve been working towards.
“Those last two games were good to blow the cobwebs out, but now it’s business time. We’ve learnt and we’re ready to get stuck into the season.
Head coach, Jason Holland, says pre-season was useful
“We worked hard through our pre-season matches at improving parts of our game and performance. Nobody shows too much in pre-season games, so we are looking forward to trying a few things.”
Holland says every player named in this weekend’s squad knows it will be a tough game, especially since the Hurricanes haven’t won in Cape Town since 2006.
“The Stormers will be a physical challenge for us and we expect them to be very direct and attack us up front. We will look forward to that challenge and intend to put them under pressure with our style of rugby. We’ve had a thorough week in Cape Town and are in good shape heading into the weekend.”
The Hurricanes walked away with a 34 – 28 win against the Stormers last season. Several players, including Ben Lam, Ricky Riccitelli, James Blackwell and Wes Goosen were in that team and have been selected this time around.
Hurricanes: Jordie Barrett, Wes Goosen, Billy Proctor, Ngani Laumape, Ben Lam, Fletcher Smith, TJ Perenara (c), Gareth Evans, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Reed Prinsep, Scott Scrafton, James Blackwell, Tyrel Lomax, Ricky Riccitelli, Fraser Armstrong. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Tevita Mafileo, Vaea Fifita, Devan Flanders, Jamie Booth, Jackson Garden-Bachop, Vince Aso.
- Hurricanes Rugby
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Latest Comments
Excellent points Mz. Because of other commitments I have just watched the game.
Interesting watching it after reading all the news reports especially in the English media. I was expecting to see a game that the ABs were very lucky to win. What I saw was a game that England showed their tactical incompetence and their inability to construct any try scoring opportunities.
They can go on deluding themselves that they were unlucky to lose ( as Borthwick said post match ) but until they stop relying on rush defence and goal kicking to win I feel they're doomed to be ranked 4 or 5 in the world.
Can't wait until the weekend to see how the Wallabies go against them
Though I dare say Walter will be hoping for an England win.
Go to commentsIF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.
As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.
Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).
This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.
If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.
Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.
After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.
Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.
Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)
Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.
Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.
Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.
Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:
Seeding Band 1
IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG
Seeding Band 2
SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: FIJI
1/8 final opponent GEORGIA
Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA
1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND
Prognosis: You know the prognosis
I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?
Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.
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