When Victor Vito describes himself as one of the elder
statesmen of the Hurricanes squad, you get a sense of how
inexperienced the team is.
But with 34 Hurricanes caps and 13 test appearances for the
All Blacks, the 24-year-old's assessment is fairly accurate.
The rest of the squad - particularly the forward pack - is
made up mainly of provincial players while those who have
played Super Rugby before have limited experience.
Vito, who made his Hurricanes debut in 2009, joined the squad
on January 10 following time off after October's World Cup,
when he filled in for the injured Adam Thomson.
Few are giving the Hurricanes much chance this season but the
big loose forward is optimistic and has been impressed with
the attitude in the camp since his return.
"It's a young squad but they've been working pretty hard for
about five to six week before I joined them as well,'' Vito
said. "To just see the fitness results and all the contact
work and everything that they've been doing, they're keen and
raring to go. It's exciting.''
Vito didn't follow the exodus following Andrew Hore and Ma'a
Nonu's unceremonious axing by new coach Mark Hammett.
The loose forward said that with big names like Hosea Gear,
Piri Weepu, Hore and Nonu leaving the new breed of Hurricanes
could show their wares.
"There's been some huge positive changes. It opens up doors
for younger guys to come through. You've got good players
like TJ Perenara and Brad Shields that are all up-and-comers
and wherever one door closes another one opens for guys like
that. These guys are really young and exuberant and look to
just really push the older fellas. I'm older now at 24. The
guys are coming in at 19-20 and they tend to push you so it's
exciting times for the `Canes.''
The Hurricanes have already suffered their first setback of
the campaign with burly flanker Karl Lowe ruled out of the
pre-season with a knee injury and the 27-year-old could miss
the early rounds of the competition proper. Wellington Lions
captain Scott Fuglistaller has joined the squad in the
interim to cover Lowe's absence.
Hammett said he believed his group of rookies would have no
problem stepping up to the rigours of Super Rugby this year.
"I've got no doubt. They have the enthusiasm, they've trained
very hard so, physically, they're in good shape. There's no
doubt that if we didn't have the window we had before
Christmas to get them up to speed then we might be more
concerned. But there's no doubt that they are up to speed and
now it's just keeping up with the speed of the game, the
intensity and the adversity that comes with week in, week out
Super Rugby.''
It is a long campaign and the Hurricanes' depth will be
tested. They went down to the Blues 36-28 in Whangarei in
their first pre-season game and were then beaten by the
Crusaders 19-8 in Mangatainoka last weekend.
They cap their pre-season campaign with a warm-up game
against the Chiefs in Taupo on Friday , before they fly out
to South Africa on Saturday.
The season gets underway the following weekend when the
Hurricanes meet the Stormers in Cape Town, which is sure to
be a tough introduction for some of Hammett's inexperienced
players.
- Daniel Richardson of APNZ
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