The Hurricanes are looking to cut out some of the risk to gain more of the reward as they move on from their first defeat of the Super Rugby season.

The competition leaders face Queensland in Brisbane on Sunday, eager to bounce back from a 29-24 loss to the NSW Waratahs in Wellington.

Against the Waratahs, the Hurricanes paid on the scoreboard for mistakes they coughed up, like the intercept try they conceded when trying to run the ball out from deep in their own territory after the halftime hooter had sounded.

Coach Chris Boyd says simple errors are always a concern, but the Hurricanes are the team who like to chance their arm.

“We’ve talked quite a bit this week about our risk and reward and we probably got it a little bit optimistic last week,” he said.

“I think we’ll probably find that we’ll peg it back a little bit this week.”

Boyd has made two changes to his starting 15, one forced by a calf injury to fullback Nehe Milner-Skudder, who expects to be fit for the next round.

The other is winger Matt Proctor’s return to take over from All Black Cory Jane, who goes to the bench.

Boyd said Jane was originally going to be rested, but Milner-Skudder’s unavailability changed that.

He also said the plan had always been to give Proctor a start against the Reds.

The Queenslanders head into the latest round sitting 13th in the standings.

But they are coming off their second win of the year, escaping with an 18-17 result against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

Boyd described the Reds as direct and powerful and he had been impressed with their scrum.

“They’ve been unlucky in a lot of their games,” he said.

“They’re a good side and Brisbane is a tough assignment historically.”