• Fixtures
• Results

Africa is the 'Canes 'reality check'

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:58

Reality check: Hurricanes flyhalf Willie Ripia

The Hurricanes had a terrific start to this year's Super 14 with three consecutive wins, before their tour to South Africa and what assistant coach Jonathan Phillips describes as the "hardest place to play rugby in the world".

The 28-12 loss against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein was the first stumbling block in the Hurricanes' season thus far, with two tough away games against the Stormers and Bulls in the next two weeks.

Too many mistakes early in the match against the Cheetahs proved costly for the Hurricanes, and forced them to abandon their game-plan, which was frustrating according to Phillips.

"[It was a] huge disappointment for us, but a reality check too - coming to Africa. It’s the hardest place to play rugby in the world," said Phillips in an exclusive interview with rugby365.com, adding that South Africa had "five great sides".

"We just didn't perform to the level that we wanted to and had been building to over the three previous games, so for us it’s a little bit back to the drawing board to make sure we play our game and not get caught up playing a game we don't want to play.

"We felt we had the edge in the scrum [against the Cheetahs], but didn't get the advantage.

"What let us down was our error count in the first 20 minutes and put ourselves under pressure."

The next assignment for the Hurricanes is a trip to Newlands to face the Stormers, who have conceded only two tries in this year's competition, and produced a highly impressive 33-0 destruction job on the Highlanders in their last outing.

The Hurricanes have no new injury concerns and Phillips will have two more players at his disposal for the Stormers clash.

"Everyone got through the game really well. Tamati Ellison and Conrad Smith, the two All Black players who were held back for injuries, have joined us from New Zealand, so they are available for selection this week."

"The Stormers have a good defence. They don't commit to the breakdown - they tend to fan, so we have got to look at ways of how we can break that and that's what we'll be working on all week."

The form that the Stormers and Bulls have both shown in recent weeks may make this a very tough tour for the Hurricanes before a long flight home to play another South African outfit, the Sharks.

"We got the five African teams in a row - so it’s a real test for us, which is good," said Phillips.

By Timmy Hancox

Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Advertising

This site requires cookies to be enabled!

Send Feedback on Rugby365!

News | Tournaments | SA Schools

Copyright © 2009 Primedia Online. All rights reserved. Developed by Primedia Online