He's ready to go. He's training well

[Jin Wah]

Hurricanes- Hoping to Maintain Their Current Pace
Hurricanes have been victorious once through the Super League, against Blues 33-32. The team lost their first match to Crusaders 42-32. They had a streak of 3 consecutive wins in the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, over Waratahs 64-48, Rebels 35-14, and Western Force 43-6. All these wins are tremendous and highlight the team’s promising capabilities. Hurricanes have a lead in the head-to-head count with 2 out of 3 wins with scores 30-19 and 41-22. Since the team has been performing really well at a commendable pace, they’ll be aiming to keep it this way in the future too. Moreover, it has been a while since Highlanders beat Hurricanes, which might give them confidence in the field and free them of any pressure.

The Hurricanes are preparing for their first home game of the DHL Super Rugby Pacific competition this weekend with Head Coach Jason Holland naming his side to take on the Highlanders at Sky Stadium.
The front row remains the same, with Pouri Rakete-Stones, Asafo Aumua and Tyrel Lomax retaining their starting spots. Off the bench, they are backed by Siua Maile with an opportunity to debut, Xavier Numia and Tevita Mafileo.

“Siua has come in through the preseason and worked hard. He had a good battle with Jacob Devery to see who got the spot for the first few weeks on the bench behind Asafo. Jacob’s done well, but due to his concussion, Siua gets his chance”.

“He's trained really well and we're confident he's going to do a good job. We look forward to him becoming a Hurricane,” said Holland.

Wellington’s Caleb Delany will make his long-awaited Hurricanes debut alongside fellow Lion, James Blackwell. Delany joined the Hurricanes as an injury replacement in 2021 before being awarded his first super rugby contract ahead of the DHL Super Rugby Pacific competition.

Head Coach Jason Holland said he was excited to see Delany get an opportunity.

“Caleb has come right through the Academy system with Wellington and trained with us, so the boys know him well. He's really matured in the last little bit.”

“He's ready to go. He's training well, and I know he's busting to take his opportunity, so it's good to have this energy coming in,” said Holland.

Hurricanes vs Highlanders live
Watch Hurricanes vs Highlanders super rugby
Hurricanes vs Highlanders 5 march super rugby
Highlanders vs Hurricanes live 2022
Hurricanes vs Highlanders live 2022 rugby
Watch Hurricanes v Highlanders live super rugby

Kia ora and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the clash between the Highlanders and the Hurricanes at Wellington.

The hosts will be buoyant off the back of their jaw-dropping comeback victory over the Blues last weekend, while the Highlanders are searching for their first win, having dropped their opener against the Crusaders.

We'll have all of the action for you live from 7pm.

TAB betting odds:

Hurricanes - $1.40, Highlanders - $2.80

Line-ups:

Hurricanes: 1-Pouri Rakete-Stones, 2-Asafo Aumua, 3-Tyrel Lomax, 4-James Blackwell, 5-Caleb Delany, 6-Reed Prinsep, 7-Du'Plessis Kirifi, 8-Ardie Savea, 9-Jamie Booth, 10-Ruben Love, 11-Salesi Rayasi, 12-Bily Proctor, 13-Bailyn Sullivan, 14-Julian Savea, 15-Jordie Barrett

16-Siua Maile, 17-Xavier Numia, 18-Tevita Mafileo, 19-Devan Flanders, 20-Brayden Iose, 21-Richard Judd, 22-Jackson Garden-Bachop, 23-Peter Umaga-Jensen

Highlanders: 1-Ethan de Groot, 2-Liam Coltman, 3-Jermaine Ainsley, 4-Bryn Evans, 5-Josh Dickson, 6-Shannon Frizell, 7-James Lentjes, 8-Gareth Evans, 9-Folau Fakatava, 10-Mitch Hunt, 11-Liam Coombes-Fabling, 12-Thomas Umaga-Jensen, 13-Fetuli Paea, 14-Sam Gilbert, 15-Connor Garden-Bachop

Reserves: 16-Rhys Marshall, 17-Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18-Saula Ma’u, 19-Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 20-Marino Mikaele-Tu’u, 21-Aaron Smith, 22-Marty Banks, 23-Scott Gregory