Record for Nonu as ‘Canes change four

Editor

20-year-old Otere Black will continue at fly-half for the Hurricanes in Friday's Super Rugby clash against the Crusaders in Nelson.

Having equalled Tana Umaga’s record as the most capped Hurricane last week, Nonu will become the sole holder of that record this weekend.

The Trafalgar Park match will be Nonu’s 123rd for the Hurricanes, while team-mate Jeremy Thrush will also equal Andrew Hore’s record as the most capped forward, having played 106 matches.

The team will welcome back Reggie Goodes, Ben Franks, Conrad Smith and Matt Proctor.

Aside from Smith’s inclusion, coach Chris Boyd has kept his backline the same as last week, giving Black his second start at fly-half.

Blade Thomson moves to number eight as Victor Vito drops to the bench and Brad Shields starts at six.

Goodes comes in at loosehead with Chris Eves dropping out of the squad and Franks amongst the replacements alongside Proctor.

Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Otere Black, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush (c), 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Reggie Goodes
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu’u, 17 Ben May, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Rey Lee-Lo, 23 Matt Proctor.

Date: Friday, May 29
Venue: Trafalgar Park, Nelson
Kick-off: 19:35 local (07:35 GMT, 17:35 AEST, 09:35 SAST)
Referee: Ben O'Keeffe
Assistant Referees: Kane McBride, Richard Kelly
TMO: Chris Wratt