Canes need to give us a sign

THE Super 15 rugby pre-season match between the Hurricanes and the Crusaders at Mangatainoka next Saturday will be no canter in the sun.

Especially for the Hurricanes, who will be desperate to achieve something positive before the championship proper gets under way.

That the Wellington-based side had their problems last time round has been well documented.

All sorts of rumours were bandied about regarding the purported in-fighting between some of their leading players and management and the flight of stars like Nonu and Weepu to other Super 15 franchises did nothing to quell them.

Just what influence coach Mark Hammett had in those players moving on has never been fully explained but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand his fate if the inconsistency which befell his side in 2011 occurs again.

Then it would very probably be him heading for the back door, and at a rapid rate of knots.

The Mangatainoka match gives Hammett and his players the ideal opportunity to show their loyal band of supporters (yes, they still have some of those) they have the mindset to achieve passable results.

Looking at the make-up of their squad there is, to put it bluntly, no way in the world they can be up among the front-runners come the Super 15's final stages.

To be brutally honest, they don't seem to have the firepower at either back or forward for that to be even a remote possibility.

So by saying passable results we aren't talking as much about actual wins and losses as we are about being competitive, of at least making their opposition work hard for their points in each and every game.

There were too many games last year when they were their own worst enemies.

Playing a team like the Crusaders in pre-season competition should be just what the doctor ordered for the Hurricanes.

No side has a better record in the history of Super rugby than the southerners and, while no championship points will be at stake means they won't be at full tilt at Mangatainoka, they are not the sort of squad who will just go through the motions either.

It should be remembered too that competition for many of the starting spots in their side come the championship proper will be as intense as you would get for most international sides. And that those on the "fringes" will be eyeing games like the one next weekend as a huge opportunity to catch the eye of coach Todd Blackadder.

So those in the sell-out crowd at Tuiland anticipating a festival-type match, with a plethora of spectacular tries, could be disappointed.

Conversely, those who like the thought of a "real" game of rugby with few holds barred should be in their element.

Bring it on!