Hurricanes reveal strong team for Blues clash

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: The Hurricanes have named a 32-man squad to take on the Blues in Auckland this Friday.

It’s the second and final pre-season game the Hurricanes will play, before heading to Cape Town to kick off the season against the Stormers.

Loose forward, Reed Prinsep, will captain the team and says it’s an honour.

"Hugely exciting – I’m just making sure I’m nailing my preparation, getting the detail right so I can go out there Friday and just play and enjoy it."

Head coach, Jason Holland says the Blues showed early form in their win against the Chiefs last weekend and so it’s likely to be a physical game.

"We’ve taken our lessons from last week and are looking forward to taking our game to another level against the Blues."

The starting XV also boasts the experience of Ngani Laumape at inside centre and Gareth Evans at No.8.

Fletcher Smith will get a start at flyhalf, with Jackson Garden-Bachop on the bench.

Much like last Saturday’s match, the game will operate in two 40-minute halves with rolling substitutions. Among the reserves are Vince Aso, Kobus Van Wyk, Vaea Fifita and James O’Reilly.

Hurricanes: 15 Chase Tiatia, 14 Wes Goosen, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Fletcher Smith, 9 Jonathan Taumateine, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 Reed Prinsep (captain), 5 James Blackwell, 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Fraser Armstrong.

Replacements - from: James O’Reilly, Asafo Aumua, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Alex Fidow, Sitiveni Paongo, Isaia Walker-Leawere, Liam Mitchell, Brayden Iose, Josh Southall, Devan Flanders, Vaea Fifita, Jamie Booth, Jackson Garden-Bachop, Vince Aso, Peter Umaga-Jensen, Danny Toala, Kobus Van Wyk.

Date: Friday, January 24

Venue: Onewa Domain, Takapuna

Kick-off: 15.00 (04.00 GMT)

Referee: Brendon Pickerill

In other news: