Hurricanes lose Coles ahead of Crusaders clash
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Hurricanes head coach John Plumtree has named his team to face the Crusaders in Wellington on Friday.
Hurricanes forwards Vaea Fifita and Ricky Riccitelli will make their 50th appearances for the team in Friday’s New Zealand derby showdown.
The pair have been named to start the match at Westpac Stadium in a largely unchanged side from the one which defeated the Stormers last round.
Senior players TJ Perenara and Ngani Laumape return to the Hurricanes starting XV after they missed the Stormers match.
They are the only changes Plumtree has made although there is one positional shift which sees Jordie Barrett move from the midfield to the right wing in place of Wes Goosen.
Goosen, who really impressed scoring two tries against the Stormers, has been named on the bench.
Riccitelli, who made his debut for the Hurricanes against the Brumbies in 2016, will start after Dane Coles was ruled out with a minor calf injury.
Fifita, who made his debut against the Blues in 2015, has again be named at blindside flank.
The return of Perenara has seen Richard Judd move on to a reserves bench which features the recall of experienced prop Chris Eves and exciting young loose forward Du’Plessis Kirifi.
Plumtree was really pleased with the character shown against the Stormers.
“The leaders involved in that match really stood up, for the whole week really, and we will need that again in what is a great challenge for us against the Crusaders,” he said.
“We expect TJ and Ngani to add a lot to that leadership group and they will also bring a lot of energy. It’s a match we are really looking forward to along with our fans who we hope can give us a real advantage.”
. @KiaMotors_NZ Wednesday Windback pic.twitter.com/miNnuW8A4j
— Hurricanes Rugby (@Hurricanesrugby) March 27, 2019
Hurricanes: 15 Chase Tiatia, 14 Jordie Barrett, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara (captain), 8 Reed Prinsep, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Liam Mitchell, 4 James Blackwell, 3 Ben May, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Fraser Armstrong.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Jeff To’omaga-Allen, 19 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Richard Judd, 22 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 23 Wes Goosen.
Date: Friday, March 29
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 19.35 (06.35 GMT)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Damon Murphy, Nick Hogan (New Zealand)
TMO: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)
