@Bovidae said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:

Lio-Willie has been under-used. Play him at no.8 and move Grace to 6.

That is another option with Grace to the bench if Blackadder is back.

@Chris I expect that the crusaders will step up big time at home , Hurricanes played well but Blues lost 2 in 15 minutes and stayed in the fight ,

@george33 said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:

@Chris I expect that the crusaders will step up big time at home , Hurricanes played well but Blues lost 2 in 15 minutes and stayed in the fight ,

Not sure mate to be honest there are a lot of dysfunctional stuff happening on the field.
You would hope they will respond but it could also be a hiding as I am not sure we will improve that much in a week..

@Chris your b ok mate not writing crusaders of at all

I thought Gardiner was one of the few positives (huge effort). The loosies have been good in defense (mostly) but the complete lack of team direction is affecting everything. I was hoping for Grace to step up more this year but everyone seems caught up in the mire. Disappointing, but things have to improve from now on.

@Canes4life said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:

I can't imagine too many changes to the Hurricanes side but I expect Brad Shields to come into the 6 jersey if he's deemed fit. I also don't think Caleb Delany will be available after going off with an HIA so either Justin Sangster or James Tucker will get the starting gig. I also hope Numia comes back into the starting side, he's arguably been the form prop of the competition so far with his scrummaging and ball play around the park.

I would keep the starting side like it was. Except for Flanders to replace Howden. And if Shields is fully fit, he could come into the reserves. If Delany is out then replace with maybe Sangster. Or give another lock option a run as Sangster looks a bit limited.

I also hope Godfrey can get more game time at 1st in other games and he steps up. So, then he can take a reserves spot esp when Barrett is out or resting.

I thought crusaders Bell was supposed to be the far superior option? Hard to believe they are leaving All Black Lio-Willie out of the team too. He's an All Black.

Lio-Willie was very good in the pre-season in the UK ...... ok it was pre season but some of theses guys dont look like they have improved from that slightly sleepy pre-season state.

TAB can't separate them - both at $1.95

When was the last time the Saders weren't favourites at home?

@nzzp man I hope the Canes can take full advantage of a Crusaders team lacking confidence. There will be some interesting selections this week and I'd imagine if Kemara starts again those odds could end up favouring the Canes by kick-off.

@Winger I think there might be some rotation in this squad given the workload, maybe someone like Howden will get a rest this week and if Shields is available he will start IMO, he's our captain and will want to make a statement in a game like this.

I would start Sangster if Delany isn't available. IMO he offers more than Tucker and is taller which is a bonus. I've got a feeling we will see Morgan at 10 next week against the Rebels with Godfrey at 15. I want to see Godfrey at 10 but unless injuries strike I think we'll probably have to wait until next year once he's had an NPC running a team first.

If I had to forecast the team for this week it would look like this, which is pretty settled..

1. Numia
2. Aumua
3. Lomax
4. Delany / Sangster
5. Walker-Leawere
6. Shields (c)
7. Lakai
8. Iose
9. Roigard
10. Cameron
11. Naholo
12. Higgins
13. Proctor
14. Moorby
15. Love
16. O'Reilly
17. Mafileo
18. Tosi
19. Sangster / Tucker
20. Flanders
21. Perenara
22. Umaga-Jensen
23. Rayasi

It is interesting nothing is coming out of the Crusaders at all this week,They seem to have closed Ranks completely.

@Chris no scoop on who's starting at 10? That selection along with Blackadder's availability are the two areas to note for me. I guess we won't find out until 4pm though.

@Canes4life said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:

@Chris no scoop on who's starting at 10? That selection along with Blackadder's availability are the two areas to note for me. I guess we won't find out until 4pm though.

No my Source is saying nothing very unusual.The Crusaders organisation has closed ranks this week.

@Canes4life
Is Numia a good scrummager, because, based on last week's effort, he is a wrecking ball in the loose.

@Frank yeah he's started very strongly this year. Him, Aumua and Lomax have rarely been bettered at scrum time this year. His work around the field is A1 and like Aumua he'll want to continue that form to press for AB selection having been selected in the AB XV side last year.

Some of the match facts from opta:

• The Hurricanes will be aiming for back-to-back wins against the Crusaders in Super Rugby for the first time since March 2018, following their 27-26 victory when they last met in Super Rugby Pacific (3 June 2023).

• The Crusaders have lost each of their three matches in the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season – their joint-longest losing run to begin a campaign in Super Rugby history (also L3 in 1996); in fact, the Crusaders have never lost four consecutive matches in Super Rugby.

• The Hurricanes have won each of their three matches in the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season; the last and only time they began a campaign with a longer winning run was a seven-match span in the 2015 Super Rugby season.

• The Crusaders will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats against New Zealand teams in Super Rugby for the first time since March 2018, following their 29-33 loss against the Chiefs in their most recent New Zealand derby in Super Rugby Pacific (23 February 2024).

1 Xavier Numia
2 Asafo Aumua (cc)
3 Tyrel Lomax
4 James Tucker
5 Isaia Walker-Leawere
6 Devan Flanders
7 Peter Lakai
8 Brayden Iose
9 Cam Roigard
10 Brett Cameron
11 Kini Naholo
12 Riley Higgins
13 Billy Proctor (cc)
14 Josh Moorby
15 Ruben Love

16 James O’Reilly
17 Pouri Rakete-Stones
18 Pasilio Tosi
19 Justin Sangster
20 Du’Plessis Kirifi
21 TJ Perenara
22 Peter Umaga-Jensen
23 Salesi Rayasi

@Duluth said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:

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Some poor selections
Heinz at HB
Springer (Murray should have gotten the start after last week)
Gardiner at 6

Canes by 30