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How embattled 'Canes can beat Bulls

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:38

Ready to bounce back: Piri Weepu of the Hurricanes

Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper and captain Andrew Hore believe the team can "bounce back" to beat the Bulls at fortress Loftus on Friday, but they have a few obstacles to overcome first.

Apart from their inexplicable slump in form - which has seen them lose to both the Cheetahs and Stormers, after winning their first three matches - they face the prospect of being without two of their most devastating backs.

Cooper said the early diagnosis on fullback Cory Jane's injury, suffered in a sickening collision with Sireli Naqelevuki during the 13-37 loss to the Stormers at the weekend, was that he was unlikely to be fit for the game at Loftus Versfeld.

"He's not looking too well," said Cooper.

"We'll get a medical report on him, but it doesn't look good for the next game."

And the coach will also be sweating on the availability of centre Ma'a Nonu, who will appear before a SANZAR judicial officer in Cape Town on Monday, after being cited for a dangerous tackle.

Nonu was cited under Law 10.4 (e) – tackling a player above the line of the shoulders – for a tackle on Stormers flyhalf Peter Grant in the 71st minute of the match.

It is the second week in a row that Nonu is trouble for a dangerous tackle. The previous week his was yellow carded, but not cited, for a tip-tackle on Cheetahs captain  Juan Smith.

Nonu, with a history of disciplinary problems, was unrepentant after his yellow card - bemoaning the fact that officials are clamping down on dangerous tackles.

However, Cooper and Hore are adamant that they can overcome these obstacles, regain their best form and upstage the Bulls.

Hore believed that one of the good things about the Super 14 was that teams had to wait only six or seven days before getting "another chance to right the wrongs" and they would endeavour to do so against the Bulls on Friday.

"We've made the tour hard on ourselves with what we did in Bloemfontein and then the first 40 minutes down here," Hore said about the loss to the Stormers.

He said that to be semifinal contenders it was important for his team to regroup this week and try to cause an upset against the Bulls in Pretoria.

Cooper felt that while the set-piece improved from the previous week's wobbly effort against the Cheetahs, the key to success against the Bulls would be getting quicker ball.

"The ball was so slow [against the Stormers] and then we become predictable," he explained.

"The boys did speed the ball up around the ruck area a little bit but once you've got ball that slow in a competition like this you become predictable, you then look lacklustre and your attack then goes.

"We need to have a look at the ball runner and the ball presentation at the cleanout so we can create quicker ball."

Cooper was disappointed, but philosophical, about the loss to the Stormers.

"We were beaten pretty well but we improved from last week, which is a good sign, but I think momentum was with the Stormers," Cooper said.

"Once you get a momentum it's pretty hard to stop. We had opportunities but we probably didn't grab the opportunities we did [have]."

He added: "The Stormers built a lead on us. We ended up playing catch-up rugby and I think that when you play catch-up rugby in this competition, you're going to struggle to win.

Cooper was full of praise for the home team's performance, saying: "The way the Stormers attacked was quite special."

The Hurricanes' kicking in the game had not been part of the game-plan.

"The Stormers flat-line defence caused us to kick more than we should have. We kicked too much in the first half. We gave the ball away.

"We didn't mean to kick as much as we did. Our game is the ball - to build phases. The Stormers slowed our ball down pretty well so then we became predictable in our attack - so I think we just need to work on our attack."

On the way forward for the Hurricanes, Cooper commented: "We've just got to regroup and find out how good a character we've got."

Asked about the contest up front, Hurricanes' captain Andrew Hore said: "It was the normal old battles. It was pretty tight up front; we came out pretty even. They got their ball and we got our ball."

Hore said he thought "the Stormers played pretty well; the first 40 probably took the game away from us".

By Len Kaplan

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