Western Force Squad Announced for Hurricanes Clash

[mudskipper]

Best hope for poor weather now... let it piss down and be slow...

[Woody]

Zim, agree with you there on Josh..he looked shaky on defence on Friday which was, in my opinion, consistent with his performance last year.

What's the go with you African guys and Josh Tatupu? Ok his dad was in the army but he wasn't a mercenary! And ok, he is (was) a kiwi but he wants very much to be in Australia. And ok he was a leaguey (State House football in NZ) but now very much wants to be as good as he can be in the 15 man game.

Yep, cocked it up big time with the first try but solid after that. Oddly they almost played the old left and right centre in defence. Given his limited game time prior to last week and a very little if any outside Harris it was to be expected.

He'll come good.

If he doesn't I'll be the first to admit that Zim and Kenya were on the money.

---------- Post added at 17:25 ---------- Previous post was at 17:22 ----------

Yo Dog, that would be cometh! Come, comes, cum, cometh, whatever, now is the hour.

P.S. I'm at home having a bourbon after a crap day at work. You guys on your lunch break!

[tdevil]

Mitch showing Faith in Harris, will do his confidence good.
Last week he had a shocker at 10, I bet you he'll come good and have a ripper

[farva]

I would have liked to have seen JOC tried at 10, with Harris at 12 and DHP at 15. Or potentially Hunt at 15, JOC to 10 and Harris to the bench. There isnt much to lose there, but plenty to gain. We know that Sam Harris doesnt work at 10, but with JOC there he might give a spark. Last week he controlled the game nicely from the back and I felt was well capable of playing 10. We still have quite a good pack so he should be on the front foot quite a bit, which will be good for his confidence there

[zimeric]

Woody, just calling it as i saw it.. Two of the tries came from mix ups between Tatupu/Sheehan and Tatupu/Cross manning up their opposing players.. common denominator?
Tats was brave in defence and tackled hard... absolutely no doubt.. but his positioning was questionable and that let him down.. if that can be addressed (im sure it was) then he will be adequate.. if adequate is all we can hope for then thats good enough for me.

Glad you said "AFRICAN".. nothing more insulting than being called a Saffa when we're obviously not (not that theres anything wrong with Saffa's hey Pete? ) for the sake of the Force i hope you're right Woody

[Woody]

I hate stats, but in this case I'll use them
Brett Sheehan 63 6 (15m) 2 0 6 0 0 5 1 2
Sam Harris 80 6 (25m) 6 0 7 0 0 5 1 2
Haig Sare 79 5 (38m) 5 1 1 0 1 4 2 1
Josh Tatupu 80 3 (27m) 8 0 0 0 1 2 0 2
Ryan Cross 80 5 (48m) 6 0 0 0 0 4 3 0
Dane Haylett-Petty 80 4 (22m) 6 0 2 0 0 5 1 2
James O'Connor 80 4 (34m) 1 0 11 0 0 3 1 3

Bold is tackles made
Italics is tackles missed
Underlined is turnover in the tacle, probably worst than a missed tackle

Like I said I don't go a bundle on stats but in Josh Ts defence(!) this isn't as bad as Zim and KenyaQ think.

[James]

If the weather is going to be that bad, I'd get James O'Connor to do the tactical kicking (for obvious reasons) and play for the line-out. We've got 4 great jumpers.

The guys will hopefully be a lot better on attack this week. They've had 7 days, as apposed to 2 hours, to get a bit of telepathy going and work on the combinations. Lets hope Cruden has a debut shocker.

I'm going to miss it unfortunately I got roped into being part of the Rotto swim support crew. Anyone know if it'll be on the radio here?

[Woody]

Shit, posted before reading. Yep positioning not flash.
Enough of me defending Tatupu, he'll be good or he won't, and it'll have nothing to do with what I say!

---------- Post added at 17:54 ---------- Previous post was at 17:49 ----------

Lets hope Cruden has a debut shocker.

Cruden got smashed last week. Still he's something a bit special.

It appears that the forecast is for 20 and clear dammit.

[AndyS]

Or alternatively, you take the one attacking option from last week and reduce him to a ball distributor. Given that from last week all we have is him and forwards, if he runs the ball from 10 it would narrow all attack to around the fringes which would be easy enough for the 'Canes to shut down. As it is O'Connor will have his hands full with Jane, who is renowned for his kick/chase and prowess in the air - last thing you want is to give him a free pass.

[Burgs]

Hurricanes Team to Take on the Western Force

Hurricanes e-newsletter, Thursday, 18 February 2010

There are a several changes to the Hurricanes squad to take on the Western Force at 7.35pm this Saturday at Westpac Stadium.
Hosea Gear suffered a tear in his knee cartilage in last week's encounter with the Blues and has had it operated on today, this will put him out of the Rebel Sport Super 14 for six weeks. Anthony Perenise is out with a calf injury, Jeremy Thrush is still recovering from a reoccurring shoulder injury and Jason Kawau also had an operation on his sinus. Jason Eaton was not considered for selection, due to a breach of team protocols.

The Hurricanes squad is:

1) John Schwalger
2) Andrew Hore [c]
3) Neemia Tialata
4) Bryn Evans
5) James Broadhurst
6) Michael Paterson
7) Scott Waldrom
8) Victor Vito

9) Piri Weepu [vc]
10) Willie Ripia
11) David Smith
12) Ma’a Nonu
13) Conrad Smith
14) Tamati Ellison
15) Cory Jane

16) Dane Coles
17) Jacob Ellison
18) Rodney So’oialo
19) Karl Lowe
20) Tyson Keats
21) Aaron Cruden
22) Andre Taylor

The Western Force squad is:

1) Matt Dunning
2) Pekahou Cowan
3) Tim Fairbrother
4) Tom Hockings
5) Nathan Sharpe (C)
6) Ben McCalman
7) Matt Hodgson
8) Sam Wykes

9) Brett Sheehan
10) Sam Harris
11) Haig Sare
12) Josh Tatupu
13) Mitchell Inman
14) Dane Haylett-Petty
15) James O’Connor

16) Ryan Tyrrell
17) Nic Henderson
18) Richard Stanford
19) Luke Jones
20) Chris O’Young
21) Stefano Hunt
22) Joelin Rapana

Tickets are still available through Ticketmaster on 0800 111 999 or www.ticketmaster.co.nz

[zimeric]

Shit, posted before reading. Yep positioning not flash.
Enough of me defending Tatupu, he'll be good or he won't, and it'll have nothing to do with what I say!

---------- Post added at 17:54 ---------- Previous post was at 17:49 ----------



Cruden got smashed last week. Still he's something a bit special.

It appears that the forecast is for 20 and clear dammit.

hehe i was about to flame you
yeah youre dead right he is a good tackler.. if hes in the right spot Cross turned over a few hey really hasnt recaptured the form from 2008

[laura]

Win or lose, we're blooding more players so that should this crap run of injuries ever happen again, we won't be in such a mad scramble to find players to cover.

The boys aren't going to get any better if they're mollycoddled into Super 14, chuck them in at the deep end & they'll work their way up to what they need to be. JO'C is a prime example. Last year he was thrown into it and most doubted he'd be able to hold his own and last week he put the points on the board, kept the backline as together as they could be and earnt himself MOM. Sammy Harris will be all the better player after last week & so will the others after this week's game. They might not be up to Super 14 level but they're never going to get there if they're left to get splinters or suit up & entertain corporate sponsors. Now is as good a time as any to get more experience in a relatively young, inexperienced team.

PS. Hurricanes e-newsletter is a bit off..Time Fairbrother & Matt Hadjson?!

[jargan83]

I'm going to miss it unfortunately I got roped into being part of the Rotto swim support crew. Anyone know if it'll be on the radio here?

I think 6PR is playing one of the NZ radio stations that is covering it

Just chum the waters the night before and then you won't have to worry about it

[GIGS20]

Also Andy if you move him in to 10, which Sam has actually had a chance to train for this week you leave us with a gaping hole at fullback!

[zimeric]

*shudders as he remembers last years AB's v wallabies game where Jane humiliated JOC with that kick/chase/catch/try..