Super 14 battle of the wannabes

The Hurricanes celebrate after their hard-earned victory in Sydney. Mark Kolbe / Getty Images

The Sydney radio commentators last week had the pronunciation blues. While the Tahs fluffed their lines, in more ways than one, so did the broadcasters.

It was not as if the Hurricanes had just sneaked on to centrestage with some new faces. They had been doing the business for much of the season with their siege-gun Samoan loose forwards leading the charge.

The relentless Rodney So'oialo, hitman Jerry Collins and the destructive Chris Masoe had anchored their campaign, they were as prominent as any players could be in the Super 14.

However, the Sydney men manning the microphones insisted there was some bloke called Mahso running around Aussie Stadium. At the end of the game, they remained oblivious to their gaffe but they had not missed Masoe.

They had seen what the All Black selectors liked last season when they promoted the ball-playing loosie ahead of the accomplished Marty Holah for the Grand Slam tour. Masoe might lack a smidgeon of finesse but he was all impact in the collision zones on attack and defence.

Like all the others involved in that Sydney slog, he has to go through the exercise again tonight at the CakeTin. There is a massive difference though - this is sudden-death, the final Super 14 match for one of the teams.

"It will be a mental thing getting up for this," said Masoe, whose birthday meter ticked over to 27 on Monday.

"I have recovered but it was extremely physical for the last 40 minutes. Covering for that sort of thing [men in the sinbin] takes a lot out of you. That second 40 was all about defence in our 22.

"I think it must have been the most tackles we have made in a game all season.

"They couldn't really crack us with their lineout drives and mauls, we defended those really well and that is their strength. They love to kick for position and then work on those moves and I'm sure they will be trying that again this time."

Masoe agreed that trust was the most crucial component of defensive work, agreeing on a system and sticking with it, even when they were a man down like last week when Andrew Hore, then Piri Weepu, had time in the bin.

"Getting through that and surviving was a huge thing for this team. We still kept our systems, we stuck with it, we did not panic."

Masoe agreed that the Hurricanes had been guilty in previous seasons of going away from their defensive strategies. But the message was to stay calm and focused.

"We know each other and we have got faith in each other," he said. "It is a great feeling after a game to talk about the effort with your mates. When things get tough you need your teammates and hopefully we can do that again."

Masoe was born in Savai'i and moved to Wanganui with his family where he took up a scholarship at Wanganui City College for the last two years of his schooling.

He had played some rugby in the islands and also boxed like his elder brother, Maselino, who won the WBA world middleweight title.

But when Chris Masoe moved to New Zealand he gave away the pugilism - "the ring is not that much fun," he said.

His rugby talents took him into the NPC, the NZ divisional XV in 2000 and national sevens side with whom he won a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2002. Last year, he surged to another level.

A crunching Super 12 series got him into the Junior All Blacks and he continued that standard for Taranaki in the NPC with promotion into the All Black's end of year tour.

Coach Graham Henry explained Masoe's promotion ahead of specialist opensider Holah: "We are just looking at a different skill set there and Masoe gives us that. Chris Masoe also has that utility value. He can play seven, eight and six.

"We are wondering about his ability to play seven. He has the explosiveness with or without the ball. He is very destructive and it will be interesting to see how he develops playing at seven on this tour."

The verdict was positive after Masoe played tests against Wales and England. That impression has continued with the Hurricanes and his All Black teammates So'oialo and Collins.

"It is massive having those guys with you, it makes my job a great deal easier," Masoe said.

"Rodders is a man of action, he does not do a lot of talking but he puts his body on the line each week and we learn from that and look to him. He is amazing.

"Jerry is the hitman, he just pounds people or runs with the ball. I can really enjoy myself alongside those two on the paddock."

There is a deal of respect too for his opponent in tonight's semifinal. Like So'oialo, Phil Waugh was not a huge man but he was unflagging in his devotion to duty while George Smith was another great competitor, another flanker to admire.

"We also have to learn from last week," said Masoe. "We have to hold on to the ball and attack more. We also know we won't win if we are a man down so this is a huge game for us."

In the early stages of the series, the Hurricanes had recovered from halftime deficits while in the last three games they had started better and carried on with it.

* First Super 14 semifinal, Hurricanes v Waratahs Westpac Stadium, 7.35 pm tonight