Hurricanes Head Coach Jason Holland has named a largely unchanged side to head to Canberra to take on the fourth-placed Brumbies in Saturday’s Quarter-final clash.
Just one change to last weekend’s starting team sees Xavier Numia return to the side at loosehead prop alongside Dane Coles at hooker and Tyrel Lomax at tighthead, with the latter set to make his 50th appearance for the Hurricanes.
Having debuted for the Hurricanes in 2020 against the Stormers at Cape Town, the Australian-born prop said it was special to bring up his 50th game for the Hurricanes at a stadium where his father made his name playing for the Canberra Raiders back in the 1990s.
“I was born in Canberra, and dad played there, so to be able to bring up 50 games for the Hurricanes over there will be special for my family and me,” said Lomax.
After a strong performance against the Crusaders, scoring the match-winning try in the dramatic 27-26 comeback victory, Brayden Iose retains the Number 8 jersey for the do-or-die clash. Once again, Iose will be flanked by Captain Ardie Savea at openside and Devan Flanders at blindside.
“As we saw last week, he (Iose) is a powerful and physical player. We have seen what he can do with ball in hand, and we’re keen to see him deliver another strong performance in Canberra at the weekend,” said Holland.
After missing last week’s action due to injury, hooker Asafo Aumua, lock Isaia Walker-Leawere and flanker Du’Plessis Kirifi return to the 23 and will be looking to add their spark off the bench at GIO Stadium.
“We’re excited to be into the business end of the season. Bringing momentum into the Quarter-finals was really important for us and getting our performance to where we wanted it last week was key. Heading to Canberra, our focus is to continue to build on some of the parts of our game that went really well for us against the Crusaders,” said Holland.
The Hurricanes take on the Brumbies at 9:35PM NZT at GIO Stadium, Canberra. The match will air live on Sky Sports.
Hurricanes team to take on the Brumbies:
1. Xavier Numia
2. Dane Coles
3. Tyrel Lomax (50th Hurricanes Game)
4. James Blackwell
5. Caleb Delany
6. Devan Flanders
7. Ardie Savea (Captain)
8. Brayden Iose
9. Cam Roigard
10. Brett Cameron
11. Kini Naholo
12. Jordie Barrett
13. Billy Proctor
14. Daniel Sinkinson
15. Josh Moorby
Replacements
16. Asafo Aumua
17. Tevita Mafileo
18. Owen Franks
19. Isaia Walker-Leawere
20. Du’Plessis Kirifi
21. Jamie Booth
22. Ruben Love
23. Bailyn Sullivan
Unavailable for selection: Tyler Laubscher, Reed Prinsep, TJ Perenara, Salesi Rayasi, Julian Savea
Unavailable due to New Zealand under-20s commitments: Peter Lakai, Harry Godfrey