Jordie Barrett takes centre stage against Lions
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Hurricanes head coach John Plumtree has named his team to face the Lions at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The inside back pairing of TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett will reach a special mark in the Round 17 Super Rugby match.
The match will be the 100th time the pair have combined at scrumhalf and flyhalf for the Hurricanes since their first match together in 2012.
The pair, who have both played 123 times for the Hurricanes, have forged a formidable partnership in that time as Barrett has gone on to become the club’s leading points scorer (1223) of all time while Perenara has scored 52 tries, the most by any halfback in Super Rugby history.
PERENARA-BARRETT CENTURY
Congratulations to the @Hurricanesrugby half-back pairing who on Saturday play their 100th match together in RD #17 against Lions in Johannesburg.
Match Centre: https://t.co/aMxP5VGDM8 pic.twitter.com/7KGgNKrIt2— Super Rugby (@SuperRugby) June 6, 2019
Hurricanes head coach John Plumtree has made five changes to the starting XV from the one which defeated the Sharks 30-17 at Durban’s Kings Park last week.
With Matt Proctor (pectoral muscle) and Wes Goosen (hamstring) having returned to New Zealand to have their injuries assessed, Jordie Barrett moves into centre while Chase Tiatia will start on the wing.
Tiatia’s inclusion sees Ben Lam move to the right wing while the experienced James Marshall moves from the reserves to start at fullback.
Gareth Evans, who made a pleasing return from a long-term calf injury off the bench against the Sharks, starts at No.8 while Ardie Savea moves to the reserves with Du’Plessis Kirifi named at openside flank.
“Ardie has had a massive workload for us, even with his All Blacks rest weeks, so we think it’s really important that he gets an opportunity to freshen up a little and come off the bench for us,” Plumtree said.
The other change in the pack is at hooker where Ricky Riccitelli is named to start with club captain Dane Coles again to feature off the bench.
. @DoveMenCare Team Naming | Ellis Park Lineup 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/VTQhK5Cx09
— Hurricanes Rugby (@Hurricanesrugby) June 6, 2019
Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Ben Lam, 13 Jordie Barrett, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Chase Tiatia, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara (captain), 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 Reed Prinsep, 5 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 4 James Blackwell, 3 Jeff To’omaga-Allen, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Fraser Armstrong, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Liam Mitchell, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Richard Judd, 22 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 23 Salesi Rayasi.
Date; Saturday, June 8
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 15.05 (13.05 GMT; 01.05 NZ time Sunday, June 9)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Egon Seconds (South Africa), Stefan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Willie Vos (South Africa)
