Barrett gets start for Hurricanes

Taranaki's Beauden Barrett has got the nod at No.10 for the Hurricanes' opening Investec Super Rugby match against the Stormers on Sunday (NZT).

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The 20-year-old will have plenty of experience outside him though with captain Conrad Smith and Tim Bateman paired in midfield and Cory Jane slotting in on the right wing.

Up front the unheralded Tristan Moran starts at loosehead, while Jeremy Thrush has edged out James Broadhurst to partner Jason Eaton in the second row.

The bench however, has a very raw look to it with four players – Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Motu Matu'u, Brad Shields and TJ Perenara – all on Super Rugby debuts, while Charlie Ngatai has just three Hurricanes caps.

Barrett has impressed during pre-season showing plenty of calm and rugby nous despite his young years.

"Given his pre-season form and how well he has driven this team around the park to-date he deserves this crack," said coach Mark Hammett.

"He brings a lot of positives with him. He's still a young guy learning a lot. This game this weekend will be great. He's up against a young first-five so that challenge within itself will be a good one.

"He has a very good rugby brain on him for such a young bloke. He's committed to getting better. He obviously wanted to get bigger and he's done that throughout the campaign. Now we're starting to see that in his defence.

"He's got a massive kick on him. He seems to handle pressure well. But it's really important we don't put too much pressure on the bloke because he is young and will make mistakes.

"But he works very hard at his game. He's an exciting bloke to be around. I'd be very surprised if in time he isn't pushing for higher honours."

The loss of physically imposing line-breakers like Ma'a Nonu and Hosea Gear means the Hurricanes will play a more structured game under Hammett.

But Barrett was confident if the opportunity to run presented itself against the Stormers he would not hold back.

"We are definitely looking to play more of a territory game than the Hurricanes have played in the past. But I'd still like to have a crack with the ball in hand when I get the opportunity to," he said. "I definitely won't shy away from that."

But how often those gaps appear against a Stormers side renown for their miserly defence and ability to squeeze mistakes from opponents remains to be seen in the cauldron of Newlands.

"We know last year they won their first six games and only scored a couple of tries so they base a lot of their game around their defence," said Hammett.

"They put that pressure on the opposition to make mistakes and then pounce. We know in Cape Town they like to play quite a high-tempo game and we know about the threats they bring.

"But we're up for the challenge and we are very well prepared."


Hurricanes: 1. Tristan Moran, 2. Dane Coles, 3. Ben May, 4. Jeremy Thrush, 5. Jason Eaton, 6. Faifili Levave, 7. Jack Lam, 8. Victor Vito, 9. Chris Eaton, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Alapati Leiua, 12. Tim Bateman, 13. Conrad Smith (c), 14. Cory Jane, 15. Andre Taylor.

Replacement: 16. Motu Matu’u, 17. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18. James Broadhurst, 19. Brad Shields, 20. TJ Perenara, 21. Daniel Kirkpatrick, 22. Charlie Ngatai.