Smith set for Canes comeback
Fit-again Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith and hooker Dane Coles return to the starting line-up for Friday’s match against the Australian Conference-leading Brumbies in Canberra.
Reynold Lee-Lo moves in one spot to inside centre to make way for Smith while Ash Dixon will be on the bench as the back-up hooker.
Joining Smith and Coles in the starting line-up are James Broadhurst and Brad Shields. Mark Reddish comes into the reserves and will be alongside Faifili Levave, who swaps places with Shields this week.
Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett said of his team selection: “Both Dane and Conrad have recovered well and are looking forward to getting back onto the field for this match.
“There were some tough calls this week, but Rey has worked hard in the past few weeks, stepping up in Conrad’s absence so he gets another opportunity in the midfield.
“We also get an opportunity to give James a start with Jeremy in the locking combination. Jason has played a lot of minutes this year and Broady has had some solid performances off the bench.”
Despite taking a knock to his knee in training, Jack Lam will be fit to take his place in the starting line-up for Friday as long as he gets through Wednesday’s training session.
Hurricanes: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Conrad Smith (captain) 12 Reynold Lee-Lo, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 Mark Reddish, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Tusi Pisi, 22 James Marshall.
Date: Friday, May 31
Venue: Canberra Stadium, Canberra
Kick-off: 19.40 (9.40 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia), Matt O'Brien (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
