Rugby: Future in their own hands

The Hurricanes kept their season alive against the Brumbies. Photo / Getty Images

The lack of ambiguity about what the Hurricanes must do in the next four games suits the team just fine.

No one in the camp is confused by the objectives. "It's win and we live another week. Lose and we are gone," says coach Colin Cooper.

That their playoff ambitions are still alive is down to a massive last half hour against the Brumbies in Canberra, where the senior players made their presence felt.

No one more so than Rodney So'oialo, who showed the value of having a 30-year-old, with 62 test caps, steering the game from the boot of the scrum.

"He was huge for us," says Cooper. "He had a massive game. He puts his body on the line each week and his support for Andrew Hore was critical.

"We moved the captaincy from Rodney at the start of the year to give him the space he needed to get his conditioning right and he was really supportive. He's managed to hold his weight and he's a massive influence on all the young players in the Hurricanes environment."

His influence has been particularly noticeable on Victor Vito, who took another step towards becoming a world-class loose forward. Faced with the giant form of Rocky Elsom in the Brumbies No 6 jersey, Vito had to graft and bash for 80 minutes and show he has the stomach for the technical and bruising side of his role.

"Victor has stepped up each week and did so again against the Brumbies," says Cooper. "We have handled him much in the same way as we have Aaron Cruden - giving him a few games last year and using him off the bench. We have tried to keep expectations low.

"But this year Victor has played every game and really shown he can handle the technical side of his game. There's more to him than that, though. He's hugely respected in the team, he's smart and definitely a future Hurricanes captain."

Victory against the Brumbies brought a five-game streak without a win to an end. It also confirmed to Cooper that he wasn't crazy to think that his side were on the verge of breaking out of their malaise and had been showing signs of better things in both their loss to the Sharks in round seven and draw with the Crusaders in round eight.

So while it might feel to others that the Hurricanes have finally burst into life, he feels it's been there for some time - which is why Cooper feels his side could muster a decent run.

They have to play the Highlanders in Dunedin this Saturday then have the Chiefs and Reds at home before flying to Sydney to take on the Reds in their last fixture.

"We had to beat the Reds last year in our last game to make the top four. It's the same this year with four weeks to go."

What will also help the Hurricanes in the critical weeks coming is their relatively clean bill of health and depth of options. Bryn Evans made a big impact when he came off the bench and Tyson Keats was lively, having replaced Piri Weepu late in the week when the former suffered a family bereavement.

Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith are combining better and the back three of Cory Jane, Hosea Gear and Tamati Ellison were instrumental in creating Smith's spectacular try in the second half.

The tough call for Cooper to make is whether to persevere with Cruden, who had a troubled night with his goal-kicking and looked a little hesitant and loose elsewhere.