The Hurricanes are being talked up as a team of thugs ahead of Saturday night’s crucial Super 12 rugby match against the Waratahs in Sydney.
The Waratahs are expecting the match at an almost sold-out Aussie Stadium to be ”physically hard” and even ”brutal” — and with some justification, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The newspaper suggested last year’s match in Wellington, which the Hurricanes won 42-26, was ”one of the most unsavoury of the 2003 tournament”.
It painted lock Paul Tito as the main villain, claiming he eye-gouged prop Matt Dunning. Dunning was sin-binned for punching Tito but the newspaper claims Dunning was only retaliating.
There are also suggestions of more foul play that was missed by South African referee Jonathan Kaplan and the citing commissioner.
Waratahs officials did not want to discuss last year’s match but did acknowledge the players were ”very mindful about how physically hard the Hurricanes are”.
The talk of thuggery is little more than pre-match mind games as the Waratahs are clearly keen to get South African referee Tappe Henning on side in a game that will dictate the playoff hopes of both teams.
The referee has played a crucial role in these trans-Tasman clashes, including a bizarre performance by Andre Watson four years ago.
The South African whistle-blower dished out five yellow cards in Sydney that night, including two against Jonah Lomu, which equated to a red card.
The Hurricanes were reduced to 13 men for the final seven minutes with Lomu off and Filo Tiatia in the bin for a professional foul — yet managed to win 27-20.
Halfback Jason Spice, who scored twice in the win in Sydney in 2000, agreed there was often a bit of intrigue to a game against the Waratahs as both teams liked to use the ball.
Spice was predicting another classic encounter with each side desperate to keep their playoff hopes alive.
”This is the best time of the year to be playing because every game is a final,” Spice said.
”At the start of the year the result doesn’t have a dramatic effect on the season but now, if you can pick up a win, nothing changes in terms of pressure but it puts you in a reasonable position.”
Spice was confident the Hurricanes had come back from the bye in good shape and said training on Easter Monday meant they were more organised than in previous years.
He was also impressed with his teammates’ attitudes. While there was an excitement about their chances of making the playoffs, no one was getting ahead of themselves.
Meanwhile, skipper Chris Whitaker threw a scare in the Waratahs camp on Thursday when he aggravated a knee injury at training.
Whitaker has been bracketed at halfback with Tim Clark and will have to get through tomorrow’s captain’s run before he is cleared to play.
A team spokesperson rated Whitaker a 70% chance to play.
Flanker Phil Waugh returns to the open side, as expected, in a pack that includes seven Wallabies from last year’s World Cup squad.
The odd man out is blindside flanker Simon Kasprowicz. — Sapa-NZPA