Hurricanes bring in South African wing for Crusaders
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Two changes have been made to the Hurricanes starting line-up set to face the Crusaders at Sky Stadium this Sunday.
The Hurricanes will be looking to bounce back from a 20-30 loss to the Blues at Eden Park a week ago.
Head coach, Jason Holland says the team has been working hard.
“It’s Important we perform better in some key areas of the game and we have worked hard during the week to improve.”
The shake-up to the starting XV comes within the forward pack. Lock Vaea Fifita gets the nod ahead of Scott Scrafton, whilst New Zealand’s 2019 Player of the Year Ardie Savea will start at No.8 for the first time since his knee surgery late last year.
Meanwhile, South African wing Kobus van Wyk has been included in the matchday 23 this week and will play off the bench.
The Crusaders are yet to play a game in the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition.
Holland says the team is excited to be hosting a derby at home in front of fans.
“We can’t wait to play at our home stadium and are excited to play again in front of our awesome fans. Performing in front of them is a big driver for us this week.”
Hurricanes: 15 Chase Tiatia, 14 Wes Goosen, 13 Vince Aso, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 9 TJ Perenara (co-captain), 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 Reed Prinsep, 5 Vaea Fifita, 4 James Blackwell, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Dane Coles (co-captain), 1 Fraser Armstrong.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ben May, 18 Alex Fidow, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Jamie Booth, 22 Billy Proctor, 23 Kobus Van Wyk.
Date: Sunday, June 21
Venue: Sky Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 15.35 (03.35 GMT)
Referee: Brendon Pickerill
Assistant referees: James Doleman, Ben O’Keeffe
TMO: Mike Fraser
