Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett believes Dane Coles and Victor Vito will ignore the milestone of playing their 50th Super Rugby game and strive to help the side chalk up their first win of the season.
Beaten by a resurgent Blues first up and then somehow failing to overcome the Reds in Brisbane last week, Hammett has resisted the urge to make wholesale changes to the side propping up the bottom of the New Zealand conference.
The only change to the starting line-up for Friday’s match with the Crusaders is positional with Vito swapping places with Brad Shields to move to the back of the scrum.
On the bench, prop Ben May replaces Reggie Goodes and replacement hooker Motu Matu’u is bracketed with Ash Dixon.
Vito and Coles made their debuts within a game of each other in 2009 and Hammett said they deserved to reach the half-century mark.
“These guys are proud Hurricanes and should enjoy the occasion as reaching your 50th cap is no small feat.
“Both Colesy and Vic have worked extremely hard to get there and that’s why they have also achieved higher honours with the All Blacks.
“They know there is a job at hand, and being the kind of guys they are, that will be their only focus on Friday night,” said Hammett.
Former Crusaders prop Ben Franks is likely to come face to face with his brother Owen at Westpac Stadium.
Hurricanes: Andre Taylor, Alapati Leiua, Conrad Smith (capt), Tim Bateman, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Victor Vito, Karl Lowe, Brad Shields, Jason Eaton, Jeremy Thrush, Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen, Dane Coles, Ben Franks. Res: Motu Matu’u/ Ash Dixon, Ben May, James Broadhurst, Faifili Levave, Chris Smylie, James Marshall, Reynold Lee-Lo.