Super Rugby
Hurricanes to test combinations in first trial against Western Force
AAP
January 31, 2016
© David Rogers/Getty Images

With six Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks unavailable, Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd will trial new combinations when the Super Rugby runners-up contest their first pre-season Rugby match against Western Force.

Nine players will make their Hurricanes debut in Gosford on Wednesday, and Boyd is expecting a big step up in the first competitive hit-out of the year.

"Everyone's been putting in the hard yards on the training paddock and in the gym, but there's no substitute for match play and they can't wait to get out on the field," he said.

"For a number of our guys, it will be their first time playing together in a match situation and it's important we give those combinations time together before the start of the season proper."

Willis Halaholo and Pita Ahki will get the first chance to audition for the midfield jerseys left empty after the departures of Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith.

Matt Proctor and Jason Woodward will also spend time at centre during a match that will be played in four quarters.

Half-back Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi will form a new halves combination with five-eighth Otere Black, while exciting Scots College products Malo Tuitama and Peter Umaga-Jensen will both see game time in the backline.

In the forwards, explosive props Loni Uhila and Hisa Sasagi and big lock Michael Fatialofa will add their bulk off the bench, as will fellow newcomers James Blackwell and Hawke's Bay flanker Tony Lamborn.

The Hurricanes' All Blacks are due to return to see action in the team's second pre-season match, against the Blues in Eketahuna on February 13.

Hurricanes: Jason Woodward; Matt Proctor, Pita Ahki, Willis Halaholo, Wes Goosen; Otere Black, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi; Blade Thomson, Callum Gibbins, Brad Shields; Mark Abbott, Vaea Fifita; Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Motu Matu'u, Reg Goodes. Replacements: Leni Apisai, Loni Uhila, Ben May, Hisa Sasagi, Chris Eves, Michael Fatialofa, James Blackwell, Tony Lamborn, Frae Wilson, Malo Tuitama, Peter Umaga-Jensen.

© AAP

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