Super Rugby: Is This Hurricanes Team the Real Deal?

Is 2015 going to be the year of the Hurricanes? It seems as though we ask that same question every year and while they always hold promise, they never fully deliver.

So is this year going to be any different?

They are 4-0 to open the season. They have been to South Africa, winning games against the Bulls and Lions on the high veldt. They did not slip on the banana skin that is the Force in their stopover game in Perth on the way home, while beating the 0-5 Blues on their return to New Zealand.

The signs are good. Along with their fast start they boast a squad littered with All Blacks. Their back line has fire power and attacking threats from nine through to 15, while the forward pack contains physical, skilled players, all of whom have a steely streak to them.

But we have seen it all before. Perhaps no Hurricanes team has had quite such a good start, but it is nothing new for the Hurricanes to promise so much.

Remember the Hurricanes teams of Super Rugby's early years? They were teams stacked with superstars. Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Tana Umaga and Alama Ieremia all called the Wellington-based franchise home, while the forward pack had All Blacks in the likes of Jerry Collins, Filo Tiatia and Gordon Slater.

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Yet only in 1997 did they make a play-off appearance in their first seven seasons. They were a team that did not just want to win, they wanted to entertain. "Expect the unexpected" became the Hurricanes mantra, as they became known as a team just as capable of doing something brilliant as doing something awful.

Things have looked up since then, for periods at least. Their teams of the mid to late-2000's were, on paper, not as talented as those of years earlier. Yet they found themselves as a play-off team in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Since then it has been slim-pickings for the Hurricanes. Their clean-out after their disastrous 2011 campaign has seen them overlooked with a young squad of underrated talent.

It seems that talent has matured though and the 2015 edition is quite possibly the Hurricanes' most imposing team for quite some time.

TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett form one of the best nine-ten combinations in the competition. Both players have matured quickly and looking more and more comfortable controlling the game at this level.

Perenara's strength and kicking game make him a threat, while Barrett possesses speed which allow him to take gaps, which he is very good at spotting.

The threat these two pose in close means that the defence cannot fan out too wide, which opens up space for the deadly back line outside them.

Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith are one of the best midfield combinations we have ever seen, a brick wall on defence and both hard runners with outstanding distribution games. Outside them Julian Savea is devastating with ball in hand, capable of beating you with strength, speed, footwork and skill, while Cory Jane brings a high skill level, strong fend and reliable finishing ability on the other wing.

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To stop those six is a frightening task for any opponent.

The only weakness in the backs may be seen at fullback, where Jason Woodward and Nehe Milner-Skudder have both been used and have both looked as threatening as ever. If that is a weakness having either of those players in the team, then this is a back line in good shape.

It is not in the backs that the game is won though, as countless other Hurricanes teams have found out. You need the forwards to get you quality on the ball so you can make use of your fire power out wide.

That is where this Hurricanes team, unlike some others, looks to have an edge. 

They have a hard-working and mobile front row who are solid enough at set-piece time too. In Dane Coles they have a player equally capable of running effectively in the loose or defending strongly in the tight. Ben Franks adds physicality, while Reg Goodes has impressed with his work rate thus far.

Their locks are fairly tight players and with the physical and busy All Black Jeremy Thrush back from injury, they will only be bolstered here. In the loose they have a bunch of physical players who are all capable of playing the loose running game, but can also tighten up and add grunt in close.

It is this versatility that has made them such a steely them on defence. The only obvious weaknesses is in Barrett at first five-eighth and the inexperience at fullback. Yet they can cover for that.

There is always a flipside to everything though. On their return to New Zealand they were far from convincing in beating the Blues, making too many errors as a consequence of taking a loose approach which made for a messy game.

They may have gotten away with this against the likes of the Blues, Force and Lions, but whether they will get away with it against the top teams is another thing.

Just in the New Zealand Conference you can expect the Crusaders, Highlanders and Chiefs to pounce on these mistakes. Chances become fewer and further in between, meaning the team that wins is usually the one which makes the least mistakes and makes the most of their opportunities.

If the Hurricanes can do these two things, on both attack and defence, they will be right up there come season's end. Are they the real deal? We will just have to wait and see.