The Hurricanes Poua are preparing to take on the Chiefs Manawa at North Harbour Stadium this Sunday, 6:05PM in the semi-final round of the SKY Super Rugby Aupiki competition.
Hurricanes Poua head coach, Victoria Grant, has made some significant changes to the run-on team that fell to the Blues in last weekend double-header, with a new-look backs combination.
Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali moves from the midfield to first-five, with Carys Dallinger looking to provide impact off the bench. Ayesha Leti-I'iga makes a shift from the wing to join forces with Shakira Baker in the midfield.
Former Kiwi Fern, Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly will look to add to her 4 tries from 2 games on the left wing, opposite Bernadette Robertson, and Isabella Waterman is back in the starting line-up at fullback to round out the backline.
In the reserves, Sosoli Talawadua shifts to hooker, with Baye Jacob looking to make her Hurricanes Poua debut at loosehead prop. Cross-code athlete Kahlia Awa, who has seen success on both the netball court and rugby field, will also look to make her debut off the bench.
“We are looking forward to the challenge. We’ve been building nicely over the past 3 games and have improved significantly, especially in set piece with 100% in our line outs and scrums last week. We are focused on putting together a solid 80min performance this week,” said Grant.
Manawatū’s Rachael Rakatau will once again captain the side from lock, alongside Joanah Ngan-Woo.
The Hurricanes Poua take on Chiefs Manawa on Sunday 19 March at 6:05PM. The match will be aired live on Sky Sport.
Hurricanes named to take on Chiefs Manawa:
1 Krystal Murray
2 Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate
3 Cilia-Marie Po'e-Tofaeono
4 Joanah Ngan-Woo
5 Rachael Rakatau ©
6 Layla Sae
7 Rhiarna Ferris
8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker
9 Milly Mackey
10 Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali
11 Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly
12 Shakira Baker
13 Ayesha Leti-I'iga
14 Bernadette Robertson
15 Isabella Waterman
Reserves:
16 Sosoli Talawadua
17 Baye Jacob *
18 Cristo Tofa
19 Maddie Feaunati
20 Aroha Savage
21 Kahlia Awa *
22 Carys Dallinger
23 Crystal Mayes
*Denotes debut