Wellington, New Zealand - The Hurricanes will be out to break their playoff hoodoo when they play the Chiefs in the Super Rugby semifinal at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday. Kick-off is at 9.35am SA time.
The Hurricanes have lost all six of their playoff games against fellow New Zealand teams in Super Rugby, including a 14-10 defeat to the Chiefs in 2009.
The Chiefs have previously contested four semifinals in Super Rugby history, winning each of the last three.
The Hurricanes have scored more than twice as many points as they've conceded in their last six Super Rugby games (197-88), of which they have won all of them. Aaron Cruden has 15 try assists this season, more than any other player in the competition; however the last of these came back in May while Beauden Barrett (193) and Damian McKenzie (190) are both within reach of becoming the first and second players this season to score 200 points.
In team news, Hurricanes captain Dane Coles will be given until match day to prove his fitness.
The All Black hooker is bracketed with Ricky Riccitelli in an otherwise unchanged Hurricanes team that defeated the Sharks in last weekend's quarterfinal.
Leni Apisai will come into the squad on the reserves bench if Coles does not recover in time from his rib injury he sustained against the Durban side while Tawera Kerr-Barlow will start at scrumhalf for the Chiefs.
In other changes to the backline, Anton Lienert-Brown moves to inside centre, with Seta Tamanivalu returning from injury to start at No 13. The forward pack is the same that started against the DHL Stormers in Cape Town last weekend.
Teams:
Hurricanes:15 James Marshall, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Woodward, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields 5, Michael Fatialofa, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles (captain)/Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Loni Uhila. Replacements: Ricky Riccitelli/Leni Apisai, Chris Eves, Mike Kainga, Mark Abbott, Callum Gibbins, Jamison Gibson-Park, Vince Aso, Julian Savea.
Chiefs:15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Sam McNicol, 13 Seta Tamanivalu, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 James Lowe, 10 Aaron Cruden (c), 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Tom Sanders, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Taleni Seu, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Dominic Bird, 3 Atu Moli, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Kane Hames. Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Siegfried Fisi'ihoi, 18 Mitchell Graham, 19 Lachlan Boshier, 20 Michael Leitch, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Toni Pulu, 23 Shaun Stevenson.
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia) Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Paul Williams (New Zealand) TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand). - African News Agency (ANA)