Hurricanes give Ardie more time
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: The Hurricanes have named an unchanged starting XV to head south for Saturday’s Super Rugby semifinal against the Crusaders at Christchurch’s AMI Stadium.
After defeating the Chiefs 32-31 in last week’s quarterfinal, Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd has resisted the temptation to change a winning combination as they prepare to take on the defending champions.
The bench is also settled, although there is potential for one change with Ardie Savea bracketed with Reed Prinsep.
Savea has not played since he suffered a high ankle sprain in the All Blacks third test against France on June 23.
Boyd said Savea had worked extremely hard to return to the Hurricanes campaign and a decision on whether he would take his place in the matchday squad would be made later in the week.
Saturday’s semifinal will be prop Toby Smith’s 100th Super Rugby match having represented the Chiefs and the Rebels before arriving at the Hurricanes.
“Toby is one of those guys who just goes about his work without fuss or fanfare but he has been a really important factor in the Hurricanes this season,” Boyd said.
“We certainly congratulate him on becoming the latest Hurricanes player to reach the milestone.”
Hurricanes: 15 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Jordie Barrett, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Thomas Perenara, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Gareth Evans, 6 Brad Shields (captain), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Michael Fatialofa, 3 Jeff To’omaga-Allen, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 James O’Reilly, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Ben May, 19 Vaea Fifita, 20 Ardie Savea/Reed Prinsep, 21 Jamie Booth, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Wes Goosen.
Date: Saturday, July 28
Venue: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
TMO: Shane McDermott (New Zealand)
