Hurricanes 2021

Canes4life

Now that the rugby season has come to an end, what will the Canes look like next season?

At the moment our strongest 23 looks like:

Fraser Armstrong 2. Dane Coles 3. Tyrel Lomax 4. Kane Le'aupepe 5. Scott Scrafton 6. Gareth Evans 7. Ardie Savea 8. Devan Flanders 9. Jamie Booth (might not be ready for seasons kick-off) 10. Jackson Garden-Bachop (wish we had a better option) 11. Salesi Rayasi (if he doesn't commit to 7s) 12. Ngani Laumape 13. Peter Umaga Jensen 14. Wes Goosen 15. Jordie Barrett
Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua 17. Xavier Numia 18. Alex Fidow 19. Isaia Walker-Leawere 20. Du Plessis Kirifi 21. Luke Campbell 22. Simon Hickey / Ruben Love 23. Vince Aso / Danny Toala / Billy Proctor

Concerns:

team selections (I'm afraid the likes of Prinsep / Blackwell will be selected before some of the above)
9s / 10s - Simply not enough experience in the two key positions on the field. I'd like to see us pick up McClutchie before December 2 with the outlook of trying to lure back Fakatava from the Highlanders in 2022.
Julian Savea - I hope they don't feel obliged to start Savea, he showed in the Mitre 10 Cup that he is not even close to the athlete he used to be.

Positives:

if we select the right players then that pack looks fairly strong, plenty of impact on the bench aswell.
if we can get Rayasi in the mix then the Canes will have plenty of weapons in the backline to score points.

mikey07

@Canes4life no no no no Prinseep and Blackwelll HAVE to start also as your stated I can see them starting Slowvea at 11 if Rayasi commits to 7s, the one change I’d make is have a Savea at 6 and Kirifi at 7 I like the duel open sides especially against the NZ teams and their ruck speed

Stargazer

@Canes4life You could be on to something with that line-up. If the rumours are true that Devan Flanders played at 8 for the Magpies all season at the request of the Hurricanes, then we may indeed see Flanders take the 8 jersey. There's no way Savea will be on the bench, so he'll play at 7 or 6. I somehow can't see them play him at 6, because they seem to rate Prinsep so much. Kirifi may be the victim of that.

Higgins

@Stargazer We must have the pip with the Highlanders coaching team them by not playing their No 8 in his Super Rugby position. Wonder what the trade off will be. Please Hurricanes coaches do not foist another second rater on us (unless it is someone the calibre of non foisted player IWL of course).

Stargazer

@Higgins They can give us Tyrone Thompson if they decide to sign him! That's assuming that Dixon doesn't have more than one additional season in him.

Higgins

@Stargazer I hope he can play for another five seasons. Being realistic and covid 19 and northern hemisphere rugby cash struggles allowing he is in about that stage of his playing career to look at cashing in overseas. Keanu KS is an up and coming prospect so where do you rate him in comparison to Tyrone Thompson?

Stargazer

@Higgins I think of Kereru-Symes and Thompson as - potentially - equally good, but at this stage in their careers, Kianu obviously has more expierence (3 seasons Mitre 10 Cup and captaining the NZU20s) and is still clearly ahead of Tyrone. I think they'd really push each other to be better if they were both in the squad. They already played against each other at school level and with each other at age grade. I can see this work really well for the future, but Tyrone must want to come back. I can't see that happening while Dixon is still there, unfortunately. The downside of the awesomeness of Dixon is that it's slowing the development of Kianu, who simply doesn't get enough game time.

Number 10

@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:

@Higgins They can give us Tyrone Thompson if they decide to sign him! That's assuming that Dixon doesn't have more than one additional season in him.

He didn't want to play for Hawke's Bay - that's why he signed for Wellington.

Stargazer

@Number-10 That's quite a simplification of the real situation, but I can't post on here what I know. The Hurricanes had a lot to do with his choice.

Nepia

@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:

@Number-10 That's quite a simplification of the real situation, but I can't post on here what I know. The Hurricanes had a lot to do with his choice.

If I had a kid and he wanted to play for the Canes, well first I’d slap him, then I’d tell him to sign with Wellington.

Winger

@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:

then we may indeed see Flanders take the 8 jersey.

I can't see them moving the starting AB No8. I think Flanders will start (if he starts) at 6. With Kirifu at 7. But if Kirifi needs a rest etc Savea to 7 and maybe Flanders at 8

Higgins

@Nepia said in 2021 Hurricanes:

@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:

@Number-10 That's quite a simplification of the real situation, but I can't post on here what I know. The Hurricanes had a lot to do with his choice.

If I had a kid and he wanted to play for the Canes, well first I’d slap him, then I’d tell him to sign with Wellington.

Not a nice thought having family turning out in the opposition colours. Still at least in the situation outlined above you will still retain the bragging rights over your kid as Wellington hardly ever beat Hawkes Bay.

Canes4life

@Number-10 why would you want to play for Hawke's Bay. 1. They rarely produce All Black's, 2. it's Hawke's Bay and 3. we all know their players only look good when their opposition is decimated by All Black's duty. So yeah @Nepia, slap your kid and tell him to sign with Wellington, that's the only thing he will be thanking you for when he looks back on a successful rugby career.

Nepia

@Canes4life said in 2021 Hurricanes:

@Number-10 why would you want to play for Hawke's Bay. 1. They rarely produce All Black's, 2. it's Hawke's Bay and 3. we all know their players only look good when their opposition is decimated by All Black's duty. So yeah @Nepia, slap your kid and tell him to sign with Wellington, that's the only thing he will be thanking you for when he looks back on a successful rugby career.

TBH, I'd rather remain fatherless than have a kid who plays for Wellington.

You really are taking this years Lions loss to the Magpies quite hard aren't you?

Canes4life

I'm happy for Hawkes Bay, they finally get a chance to hang with the cool kids.

mikey07

I still stand by the loose forward trio of Savea, Kirifi and Flanders as I feel against the kiwi teams we don’t necessarily need a strong ball runner just more ability at the breakdown.

Canes4life

Anyway, back to what this thread should be about and my stab at a 38 man squad is:

*denotes the players that I think will be picked up but haven't been announced yet.

Fraser Armstrong
Xavier Numia
Tevita Mafileo
Alex Fidow
Tyrel Lomax
Pouri Rakete-Stones*

Dane Coles
Asafo Aumua
Ricky Riccitelli

Isaia Walker-Leawere
James Blackwell
Scott Scrafton
Kane Le'aupepe
Liam Mitchell

Devan Flanders
Brayden Iose
Du'Plessis Kirifi
Vaea Fifita
Ardie Savea
Reed Prinsep
Gareth Evans
Caleb Delany*

Jamie Booth
Jonothan Taumatiene
Luke Campbell*

Jackson Garden-Bachop
Simon Hickey
Lincoln McClutchie*

Ngani Laumape
Peter Umaga-Jensen
Danny Toala
Billy Proctor

Vince Aso
Wes Goosen
Julian Savea
Salesi Rayasi / Jonah Lowe

Ruben Love
Jordie Barrett

mikey07

@Canes4life is it 38 I thought it was only 35?

Canes4life

@mikey07 going from the Crusaders thread I'm thinking it might be 38. If it's 35 then McClutchie, Delany and Rakete-Stones probably miss out.

mikey07

@Canes4life Maybe it is 38 due to COVID I’d be happy we those 3 extras...I’m still I awe why we signed Simon Hickey.

The Silver Fern

Hurricanes 2021