Hurricanes blown off course by injuries
by Huw Turner
February 11, 2001

With their opening Super 12 match against the Reds now less than two weeks away, the preparation of Graham Mourie's Hurricanes side has been disrupted by a series of injuries to key players.

Christian Cullen, still recovering from knee surgery, All Black flanker Filo Tiatia and sevens star Rodney So'oialo are all serious doubts for the start of the competition. Taranaki's Brent Thompson has been called in as cover, but Manu Samoan skipper Semo Setiti, in such impressive form in the Wellington sevens over the weekend, could yet earn a recall to the squad.

The Highlanders crushed the Hurricanes 42-7 on Saturday in a warm-up match in front of 7,000 spectators in Oamaru, but at this stage of the season it would be advisable not to get carried away by the possible implications of these results. Whilst the injuries are certainly serious, and of course concerning to all involved, the match results may turn out to be meaningless. In their NPC winning season of 2000, the Hurricanes displayed atrocious early season form, going down in one game to Taranaki by much the same margin as Saturday's.The side did not really begin to look like serious championship contenders until their semi final demolition of Auckland at Eden Park.

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