Rugby: Weepu on bench for Hurricanes

Hurricanes captain Andrew Hore has been named to start despite suffering a deep cut to his knee against the Bumbies last week. Photo / Getty Images

Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper admits the new law interpretations have counted against halfback Piri Weepu, whose rocky Super 14 rugby season continued today.

In a blow to the 35-test All Black's chances of an international recall, Weepu was benched for the second time this season behind youngster Tyson Keats, as Cooper made two changes to his starting 15 to face the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday.

Both changes from their 23-13 win over the Brumbies are in the pack, with lock Bryn Evans replacing Jeremy Thrush and openside flanker Karl Lowe returning from illness for Nick Crosswell.

Weepu missed the Canberra trip as he mourned the death of his grandfather, but kept in shape with a club match in Wellington last Saturday.

Cooper has rewarded Keats for his strong game in Canberra, leaving Weepu covering the halfback and five-eighth spots.

"With the way the contact area's been penalised, getting quick ball now is the key so No 9s are probably under more pressure than the 10 who's not getting that pressure put on him," Cooper said.

"Particularly on attack the No 9 has to be there to clear it and clear it well. With injuries and other things happening to him, Piri's worked hard to change his game."

With the emergence of Crusader Kahn Fotuali'i and former Hurricane Alby Mathewson, who shifted to the Blues for more game time, there is a logjam of contenders for the two All Blacks halfback spots.

Weepu admitted yesterday he was considering an offer from France, pending a chat with the All Blacks coaches about his test future.

Said Cooper: "He's got a lot going on. That's been the hard thing for Piri. There was the bereavement and a whole lot of things. He's got some good people around him to help him through all that, as we are trying to help him through it."

The only other headache for Cooper was over captain Andrew Hore, who required seven stitches in a deep cut to his right knee from a stray Brumbies sprig.

But the All Blacks hooker trained strongly today after medical staff's concerns about an infection and tendon damage were allayed.

"(The doctor) was talking me through what was going on, all the stages (while he was stitching), which was interesting enough but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone else to have a crack at it," Hore said.

"The most frustrating thing was I had to get injected on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday while they cleaned it out before they stitched it up. The novelty of having a cut knee was well and truly over by then."

Hore will lead out a Hurricanes side needing to win their final four matches, collect some four-try bonus points and hope other sides fall over to sneak into the playoffs.

They sit eighth on the ladder, eight points behind the fourth-placed Reds, and will be heavily favoured against the struggling Highlanders who have proved a handful in the past.

"We touched on that today. We've been down there thinking we're going to go all right, and next thing there's 20 minutes to go and it's 10-6 or something and you're in a real dogfight," Hore said.

"It is huge. We want to go down there and build on the second half we had against the Brumbies and play with our heads up and have a bit of fun.

"Hopefully the forwards can get the set piece right like they have the last couple of weeks, get some good ball and we can score some good tries."

Hurricanes
Hurricanes: Cory Jane, Tamati Ellison, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Hosea Gear, Aaron Cruden, Tyson Keats, Rodney So'oialo, Karl Lowe, Victor Vito, Michael Patterson, Bryn Evans, Neemia Tialata, Andrew Hore (captain), John Schwalger.

Reserves: Dane Coles, Jacob Ellison, Jeremy Thrush, Nick Crosswell, Piri Weepu, Jason Kawau, David Smith.

- NZPA