A week after defeating the Australian conference leading Reds and ending their seven-match unbeaten streak, the Hurricanes this weekend face the New Zealand conference leading Blues.
The Blues have won six matches on the trot, a record under coach Pat Lam, but the Hurricanes – who are all but out of final’s calculations – would like to at the very least close the season out as a giant killer.
Their 28-26 win over the Queensland Reds was all the more remarkable for the fact that key All Blacks were missing, yet it was the return of Aaron Cruden that sparked the Hurricanes vaunted running game.
He took on the line constantly and played the same style of flat attack that the Reds have employed to great success in the last season and a half courtesy of Quade Cooper.
Cruden’s well taken options on attack will be something that the All Blacks coaches would have taken note of; with the current regime famously employing the flat offensive style (also coined the ‘Randwick’ attack) with mixed success in 2004.
Of further interest will be the dual playmaking combination of Cruden and new second five-eighth Daniel Kirkpatrick, a dynamic duo that could thrive if the Hurricanes produce as much quality ball as they did in the first half against the Reds.
Kirkpatrick, who replaces Charlie Ngatai (broken ankle, suffered in a collision with Scott Higginbotham), is the only change to a settled and happy Hurricanes team.
Coach Mark Hammett has remarked that the camp more positive than they have been all season, and reports indicate that the intensity and execution displayed in this week’s training sessions have been of a high standard.
He did though stress that the team still needed to follow the processes on field.
“A lot of that is around attitude as well,” he said.
“The trainings have been outstanding, but at training you're not against opposition coming back at you a hundred miles an hour.”
“The clarity and the understanding of how we want to play is really good, but if we go to B before we get A done we get in trouble.”
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