All Blacks rookie’s ‘statement year’ gathers pace with first Hurricanes start in New Zealand derby
Hurricanes and All Blacks loose forward Peter Lakai.
Highly rated All Blacks rookie Peter Lakai makes his first start of the season for the Hurricanes in their Super Rugby Pacific derby with the Blues in Wellington on Saturday.
The 21-year-old loose forward, who usually plays as an openside flanker, started on the replacements bench during the Hurricanes’ previous two matches against the Crusaders and Fijian Drua but will start at number eight against the Blues.
After making his Test debut against Japan on their 2024 end-of-year tour, Lakai went on to make two further appearances for the All Blacks during the Autumn Nations Series against France and Italy.
While all those appearances were made off the replacements bench Lakai’s performances earned rave reviews with All Blacks legend Justin Marshall amongst those who sang his praises.
All Blacks legend expects ‘statement year’ from Lakai
Marshall said last month he expects Lakai to have “a statement year” in 2025.
For the Hurricanes‘ derby with the Blues, Lakai replaces Brayden Iose, who drops down to the bench, and is joined in the back-row by co-captains Du’Plessis Kirifi and Brad Shields, who will pack down on the openside and blindside flank respectively.
Hurricanes head coach Clark Laidlaw has made five changes to his starting line-up with Kade Banks set to make his debut at full-back – where he replaces Callum Harkin – having previously worn the Blues jersey in 2024.
The rest of the backline remains the same with Fatafehi Fineanganofo and Kini Naholo as the starting wings while Bailyn Sullivan and Peter Umaga-Jensen continue with their partnership in the midfield.
The Hurricanes’ current leading points-scorer for the season, Harry Godfrey, continues at fly-half with All Black, Cam Roigard, starting at scrum-half for the third successive week.
In the second-row, Isaia Walker-Leawere comes back into the side as a replacement for Hugo Plummer and will pack down alongside Caleb Delaney.
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Meanwhile, Pasilio Tosi will get his first start of 2025 as he replaces Tevita Mafileo at tighthead prop with Raymond Tuputupu taking over from Jacob Devery as the starting hooker.
Joining Mafileo and Tuputupu in the front-row is loosehead prop Xavier Numia.
Laidlaw is looking forward to the clash against Super Rugby Pacific‘s defending champions.
“We’re excited to be back in Wellington and play our first home game at SKY Stadium for 2025,” he said. “It’s Culture Round and we’ve had an enjoyable week connecting our different cultures.
“It’s great to be able to have Kade Banks in the team this week, he’s had a really strong pre-season and deserves this opportunity to debut.
“Being the 2024 champions, the Blues will be highly motivated and demand a top-quality performance from us. We certainly feel inspired to play well and meet that demand.”
Hurricanes team to face Blues
Hurricanes: 15 Kade Banks, 14 Fatafehi Fineanganofo, 13 Bailyn Sullivan, 12 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 11 Kini Naholo, 10 Harry Godfrey, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi (cc), 6 Brad Shields (cc), 5 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 4 Caleb Delany, 3 Pasilio Tosi, 2 Raymond Tuputupu, 1 Xavier Numia Replacements: 16 Jacob Devery, 17 Pouri Rakete-Stones, 18 Tevita Mafileo, 19 Hugo Plummer, 20 Brayden Iose, 21 Ereatara Enari, 22 Riley Hohepa, 23 Ngatungane Puniva
Date: Saturday, March 1
Venue: Sky Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 19:05 local (06:05 GMT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Matt Kellahan (Australia), Fraser Hannon (Australia)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
