Hurricanes look to ride the Jerry Collins emotional wave against Brumbies
New Zealand hosts want to beat Aussies as tribute to former star in ‘test-match level’ Super 15 semi-final
The Wellington Hurricanes will play the emotional card and invoke the memory of Jerry Collins when they play the ACT Brumbies this weekend as the Super 15 intensity hits "test-match level".
The New South Wales Waratahs and Otago Highlanders round off the semi-finals with the Sydney team determined to prove that regular-season points, where they finished behind Otago, were an aberration.
The New Zealand sides go into the trans-Tasman showdowns with the better form - the Hurricanes and Highlanders were the two best-performing sides in the regular season - while the Australia sides have the greater pedigree.
They’ve been the trailblazers all year in the competition so they’re a very dangerous side in a lot of different areas
The Waratahs are the defending champions, while the Brumbies, 2001 and 2004 winners, booked a place in the semis for a third consecutive year when they knocked out South Africa's final hope, the Western Stormers.
The Brumbies are bidding to become the first team from either Australia or South Africa to win a play-off match in New Zealand, but against them is the arduous travel they have undertaken to get to Wellington's Westpac Stadium via South Africa.
Hooker Stephen Moore saw similarities with 2013 when they went to South Africa to beat the Northern Bulls in the semis then flew to New Zealand to be beaten 27-22 by the Waikato Chiefs in the final.
"Finals is as close as you get to test matches and big test matches. That kind of pressure goes up a level, the intensity goes up a level."