Julian Savea has been highlighted as the danger man by Will Genia as the Reds prepare to face the Hurricanes on Saturday.
'He's going to be a handful. We have to be smart and limit his opportunities and not let him get up a head of steam,' he said earlier this week.
The All Blacks flyer was in devastating form in the Hurricanes 39-20 dismantling of the Blues last week, scoring a try, assisting another and breaking six tackles along the way.
The Reds will be looking to end a 16-year drought in Wellington that dates back to a 41-33 victory in 1998, with Tim Horan and John Eales the heroes on that day. Last season the Reds won a scrappy encounter 18-12, only their second victory in 12 meetings against the Canes.
In team news, the Reds have made four changes from the team that went down to the Brumbies a fortnight ago. JJ Taulagi replaces Rod Davies on the wing, while Mike Harris returns at centre in place of Ant Fainga'a. Up front James Slipper switches to tighthead prop to accommodate the returning Ben Daley, with Saia Fainga'a completing the front row. The Hurricanes have made only one change as they look to continue their recent good form, with Ben Franks coming in at loosehead prop.
HEAD TO HEAD
Overall: Hurricanes 4 Reds 2
In Wellington: Hurricanes 3 Reds 0
SAVEA'S STATS THAT MATTER
28 – The number defenders beaten (Rank 2)
11 – The number of clean breaks (Rank 3)
584 – The number of metres run (Rank 3)
Source: Vodacom Stats App
Hurricanes – 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (c), 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ben Franks.
Subs: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Reggie Goodes, 19 Blade Thomson, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Tim Bateman, 23 Matt Proctor.
Reds – 15 Ben Lucas, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Eddie Quirk, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 1 Ben Daley.
Subs: 16 James Hanson, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Jono Owen, 19 Ed O'Donoghue, 20 Curtis Browning, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Anthony Fainga'a, 23 Rod Davies.
SA Rugby mag team's predictions
Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images
