Hurricanes Rugby

Is 2015 going to be the year of the Hurricanes? It seems as though we ask that same question every year and while they always hold promise, they never fully deliver.

So is this year going to be any different?

They are 4-0 to open the season. They have been to South Africa, winning games against the Bulls and Lions on the high veldt. They did not slip on the banana skin that is the Force in their stopover game in Perth on the way home, while beating the 0-5 Blues on their return to New Zealand.

The signs are good. Along with their fast start they boast a squad littered with All Blacks. Their back line has fire power and attacking threats from nine through to 15, while the forward pack contains physical, skilled players, all of whom have a steely streak to them.

But we have seen it all before. Perhaps no Hurricanes team has had quite such a good start, but it is nothing new for the Hurricanes to promise so much.

Remember the Hurricanes teams of Super Rugby's early years? They were teams stacked with superstars. Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Tana Umaga and Alama Ieremia all called the Wellington-based franchise home, while the forward pack had All Blacks in the likes of Jerry Collins, Filo Tiatia and Gordon Slater.

Yet only in 1997 did they make a play-off appearance in their first seven seasons. They were a team that did not just want to win, they wanted to entertain. "Expect the unexpected" became the Hurricanes mantra, as they became known as a team just as capable of doing something brilliant as doing something awful.

Things have looked up since then, for periods at least. Their teams of the mid to late-2000's were, on paper, not as talented as those of years earlier. Yet they found themselves as a play-off team in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Since then it has been slim-pickings for the Hurricanes. Their clean-out after their disastrous 2011 campaign has seen them overlooked with a young squad of underrated talent.

It seems that talent has matured though and the 2015 edition is quite possibly the Hurricanes' most imposing team for quite some time.

TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett form one of the best nine-ten combinations in the competition. Both players have matured quickly and looking more and more comfortable controlling the game at this level.

Perenara's strength and kicking game make him a threat, while Barrett possesses speed which allow him to take gaps, which he is very good at spotting.

The threat these two pose in close means that the defence cannot fan out too wide, which opens up space for the deadly back line outside them.

Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith are one of the best midfield combinations we have ever seen, a brick wall on defence and both hard runners with outstanding distribution games. Outside them Julian Savea is devastating with ball in hand, capable of beating you with strength, speed, footwork and skill, while Cory Jane brings a high skill level, strong fend and reliable finishing ability on the other wing.

To stop those six is a frightening task for any opponent.

The only weakness in the backs may be seen at fullback, where Jason Woodward and Nehe Milner-Skudder have both been used and have both looked as threatening as ever. If that is a weakness having either of those players in the team, then this is a back line in good shape.

It is not in the backs that the game is won though, as countless other Hurricanes teams have found out. You need the forwards to get you quality on the ball so you can make use of your fire power out wide.

That is where this Hurricanes team, unlike some others, looks to have an edge. 

They have a hard-working and mobile front row who are solid enough at set-piece time too. In Dane Coles they have a player equally capable of running effectively in the loose or defending strongly in the tight. Ben Franks adds physicality, while Reg Goodes has impressed with his work rate thus far.

Their locks are fairly tight players and with the physical and busy All Black Jeremy Thrush back from injury, they will only be bolstered here. In the loose they have a bunch of physical players who are all capable of playing the loose running game, but can also tighten up and add grunt in close.

It is this versatility that has made them such a steely them on defence. The only obvious weaknesses is in Barrett at first five-eighth and the inexperience at fullback. Yet they can cover for that.

There is always a flipside to everything though. On their return to New Zealand they were far from convincing in beating the Blues, making too many errors as a consequence of taking a loose approach which made for a messy game.

They may have gotten away with this against the likes of the Blues, Force and Lions, but whether they will get away with it against the top teams is another thing.

Just in the New Zealand Conference you can expect the Crusaders, Highlanders and Chiefs to pounce on these mistakes. Chances become fewer and further in between, meaning the team that wins is usually the one which makes the least mistakes and makes the most of their opportunities.

If the Hurricanes can do these two things, on both attack and defence, they will be right up there come season's end. Are they the real deal? We will just have to wait and see. 

It has been a tough few years for Ma'a Nonu. While his All Blacks form has never really dipped, he has copped all sorts of criticism for his below-par performances at Super Rugby level.

In 2015 he will return home to the Hurricanes, where he will look to put the nightmares of the past four seasons behind him. The move should be a good one for both Nonu and his new team, provided Nonu's head stays in the right place.

There has not been a player in New Zealand rugby whose game has received more attention in recent years than Nonu. How can he be so brilliant for the All Blacks but so underwhelming at the level below?

With the Hurricanes in 2011, Blues in 2012 and Highlanders in 2013, he entered each season on a team with high hopes. All were huge disappointments, and Nonu's form did not help. He offered little on attack, and his discipline was not flash either.

Of course, there was a lot more wrong at these three teams than just Nonu. None looked polished, and all appeared to lack the desire to gain a physical edge. The unfortunate thing for Nonu was that he was the common denominator in each of these three teams.

In 2014 he returned to the Blues after arguably the worst season of his career at the Highlanders. His form has been better but inconsistent. At times he has been the player many consider to be the best inside centre in the world. At others, he has been error-prone and struggled to make an impact.

A return home in 2015 will mark the fourth season in a row where he has donned a different jersey to the one before.

But this time there is every chance it could work out.

Not only could Nonu do with a fresh start, the Hurricanes need a quality inside centre.

This year the Hurricanes remained on the fringe of the playoffs for the entire season. They had a good all-round team, hard-working tight five, a bruising loose forward trio and a lethal back line. But they lacked an inside centre, and it was this that really hindered their performances.

Alapati Leiua was the best of the options used, but his departure to Europe means he will no longer be an option.

With Nonu in the mix, the Hurricanes will have a player who can bring something different to their back line.

He is a player at his best when he is receiving front-foot ball with enough depth that he can step. With this step he creates a weak shoulder on his defender, which allows him to break the tackle. It is a skill heavily taught right through the age grades in New Zealand, and there are few better at executing it than Nonu.

In this, he provides them with a genuine line-breaking option in the midfield. Sandwiched between Beauden Barrett and Conrad Smith, he will be in the best situation of recent times.

Barrett is maturing into a player capable of taking good options while also maintaining the speed and eye for a gap which helped him burst onto the scene. He will attract more attention from the defence, and he will take the ball to the line, meaning Nonu can get the ball on the run.

Part of Nonu's problems in recent years has been in being stuck outside fly-halfs who just shovel the ball straight on. Often Nonu has gotten the ball at a standing start, meaning the defence is able to push up further on him. He has been limited to having to crash the ball and set up for the next phase without being able to really make an impact.

At the Hurricanes outside Barrett, this should not be such an issue.

Outside Nonu will be his longtime partner, Conrad Smith. The two have formed one of the great All Blacks midfield pairings and combine as well as any two players in the world. Smith is the hard-working, tidy, intelligent, safe tackler. Nonu is the dynamic, line-breaking, hard runner.

The key to note there is that they are different. In his two seasons with the Blues, Nonu has brought too much of what everyone else has had. Likewise, the Hurricanes have lacked punch through the midfield.

Nonu provides them with variation. He will attract more defensive attention closer in, which will open up space for their dangerous wing combination of Julian Savea and Cory Jane.

Of course, he has been hampered with some niggling injuries over the past few years too. These have clearly inhibited his play and could continue to do so at the Hurricanes. The 32-year-old will need to be managed to stay healthy, but the same can be said about many other older players in New Zealand.

His form at Super Rugby level has not been flash over the past four years. But his best years at this level came wearing a Hurricanes jersey. It seems to be where he most wants to play and also looks to be the best fit for him.

If it does not work out for him here, it is difficult to see where it will work out. At his best, he remains as good an inside centre as anyone, and if he can bring this form to the Hurricanes, they will be right up there with the top contenders.

So far this season, the Hurricanes have been one of Super Rugby's big surprise packages.

After a disappointing 2011, they lost eight past or current All Blacks as coach Mark Hammett's hard-line style of coaching proved unpopular with senior players.

Hammett's style introduced a much-needed series of changes.

For most of the Super Rugby seasons, the Hurricanes have had no shortage of talented players on their roster but with only one Grand Final appearance in franchise history to show for it, underachievers is a good word to describe the team.

Their previous style of entertaining, explosive rugby suited the star-studded back lines of old and was usually good enough to get them into the semi-finals.

That kind of rugby, while great to watch, lacks the consistency required to succeed long-term. An expansive style of game allows mistakes to creep in and takes the game away from the forwards, which are needed in the tightly-fought playoff games.

As the saying goes: "the best back line in the world means nothing if you're going backwards."

It's no coincidence that the most frequent Super Rugby winners are the Crusaders, Bulls and Brumbies.

The All Blacks finally won a World Cup last year when their forwards started working hard and focusing on a style of game that relies more on structure than a high tempo.

Mark Hammett was brought in from Canterbury by the Hurricanes' management to bring that style of rugby to Wellington.

From day one he emphasised his authority and later told captain Andrew Hore and star second-five Ma'a Nonu they would no longer be required.

Despite the criticism he received, the resulting player exodus actually served to refine the team.

The players left in 2012 were all hard workers with a skill set that works to the game Hammett wants (Nonu made too many mistakes) and rookies with everything to prove.

Contrary to preseason expectations of serving as an extra bye, the Hurricanes have demonstrated signs of longer-term improvement as they sit just outside the top six with a 6-6 record.

Home wins against the Brumbies and Cheetahs would have seen this record at a more impressive 8-4.

Aside from receiving two lessons in not resting players, the 2012 season has been dictated by Hammett's on-going struggle to introduce structure to a team which is still inherently flair-based.

This has always been the Hurricanes' way, and this way of thinking is evident in the way many of them still play. TJ Perenara is a great attacker around the rucks, the back three are among the best counter-attacking trios in the competition and even the loose forwards pride themselves on strong ball-running.

Their ability to quickly score tries has been a real asset this season but this inherent flair got them unstuck around the 50th minute.

Ahead by nine points and firmly in control, they spent 10 minutes trying to push the ball around the field and make line breaks. These attacking runs were often rushed and in that time, the Brumbies were able to get back into the game as two tries put them into the lead.

Had the Hurricanes maintained their composure during that period, they could have worked to take control of the game and close it out in the same way the Stormers have done for much of this season.

This is the biggest problem Mark Hammett will face for the rest of the season and in future seasons.

He needs to harness the team's natural explosive style of rugby that can be so unpredictable and so hard to stop when it works, but he also needs to blend it with a disciplined, controlled style that closes games out and wins high-pressure games.

I can't say I envy his job, but if it works he deserves to be recognized as one of the game's great coaches.

Last year, Mark Hammett took over the coaching duties for a team which, under the previous coach Colin Cooper, had made the playoffs five times in eight years. It did not turn out very well.

The Hurricanes, while boasting a team that included World Cup winners Andrew Hore, Victor Vito, Aaron Cruden, Conrad Smith, Hosea Gear and Cory Jane, and IRB Player of the Year candidates Piri Weepu and Ma'a Nonu, finished fourth in the New Zealand conference. They edged the Chiefs by two points, partly because of a draw awarded to them due to the Christchurch earthquakes.

This season, the job gets even harder, because out of those players, Vito, Smith and Jane are the only ones remaining, leaving the Hurricanes in the unfamiliar position of having the least internationals in the New Zealand conference.

The fact that those players played well in the World Cup for the All Blacks raises questions about Hammett's coaching ability. He has to get the most out of his young players to show that he is the right man for the job.

The departure of props Neemia Tialata and John Schwalger leave the Hurricanes with versatile Taranaki man Michael Bent and longtime Chiefs prop Ben May as the probable starters. May has always been a solid starter but was better known for being a mobile prop than a destructive scrummager. Behind them are rookies Reggie Goode, Tristan Moran and Jeffery Toomaga-Allen.

At hooker, Andrew Hore has been replaced by two solid players in Dane Coles and David Hall. Coles has always been a mobile hooker with a nose for the try line, having scored 15 tries in 56 appearances for Wellington.

Hard-running Southlander David Hall spent a good deal of the last few years splitting time at the Highlanders with Jason Rutledge. However, he sat out last season with a shoulder injury and may not be as effective as in the past.

Both Jeremy Thrush and Jason Eaton return to the second row and will be joined by Taranaki's James Broadhurst and Mark Reddish. A mobile lock who is aggressive in the line-outs, Thrush, a former IRB Under-19 Player of the Year, has been a fringe All Black for a while but has never made it past the Junior All Blacks. Jason Eaton, on the other hand, will be looking to regain the form that made him an All Black in the past.

Victor Vito will lead the way in the loose forwards, being their only All Black. The former Sevens player will be joined by veteran Hawkes Bay fetcher Karl Lowe and hard tacklers Jack Lam and Faifili Levave. Lam in particular has made big strides since making his Super Rugby debut and could become a factor this season.

At halfback, taking over for Weepu will be either the journeyman Chris Smylie or teenager T.J. Perenara. Smylie has always been a nippy ball runner around the fringes and is playing for his third Super Rugby franchise. Perenara could be the future at the halfback position, after making his debut for Wellington while he was still in high school. At 19, he has a bright future ahead of him.

First five-eighth is a position that has a bit of uncertainty because Cruden has left for the Chiefs. Daniel Kirkpatrick has started for them before but has not been much of a difference-maker for them thus far. Tusi Pisi had an impressive World Cup, particularly with his kicking game, although he needs to learn to attack the line a bit more.

The most intriguing prospect is the electric Beauden Barrett. After impressing for Taranaki in both 15s and sevens, it will be interesting to see how he makes the jump to Super Rugby. He is incredibly fast with a great sidestep and a decent kicking boot. He can also line up on the wing and at fullback.

From midfield, the always-consistent Conrad Smith will be captaining the side for the first time. There are few more cerebral players in world rugby today. Around him are Taranaki man Jayden Hayward and former Crusader Tim Bateman—both men who get a fair share of line-breaks.

Back at his preferred position at fullback is Cory Jane. Joining him in the back three will probably be former Sevens players Julian Savea and Andre Taylor.

Taylor is a dangerous counter-attacker with finishing speed. Julian Savea was the IRB Under-20 player of the year in 2010 but has had an underachieving Super Rugby experience thus far. He has the size and speed to bulldoze his way to the try-line, but he has problems with his ball skills. Those can be solved with some proper coaching, and he could become a threat for the Hurricanes this season.

On paper, the Hurricanes are the least talented team in the New Zealand conference. But the young talent has a chance to prove themselves and could save Mark Hammett's hide if they can string together a winning season.

Maybe in a few years, this team can become formidable and take the Canes back to the final.

It was the news no Hurricanes fan wanted to hear. That one piece of information that made last week's loss to the woefully out-of-form Brumbies a more bitter pill to swallow.

Today, Sportal broke the news that Conrad Smith's head clash in Canberra that saw him substituted for Charlie Ngatai had, in fact, fractured his nose and requires stitches to his forehead.

Meanwhile, Aaron Cruden was substituted at halftime due to an Achilles strain. As a result, both will miss the Hurricanes' tour of South Africa which will see them take on the struggling Cheetahs and the in-form Sharks, who will have been boosted by the return of star fullback Patrick Lambie by that stage.

This comes as another headache for coach Mark Hammett, who will already miss All Blacks Cory Jane, due to the birth of his third child, and Piri Weepu, who remains sidelined after fracturing his ankle in last year's ITM Cup.

As a result, Taranaki midfielder Jayden Hayward will be brought back into the lineup, and Hammett can also call on the services of another talented young first five in Beauden Barrett, who has been part of the Hurricanes' wider training group this season.

Barrett will most likely be named as replacement first five, though Daniel Kirkpatrick will need to dramatically improve his form after kicking 2/6 against the Bulls on April 2. Meanwhile, it seems that Hayward and Ngatai will be competing for the place of outside midfielder.

At any rate, only time will tell as to whether they can step up and fill the boots of the absent All Blacks.