The MAC club player who has 32 All Black games on his CV, attributed the amount of game time he has had as the key factor in his name being at the top of the Canes' tackling stats.
"We've had a lot of injuries among our props so I've ended up playing a lot of minutes."
While Franks will be the only Magpie starting against the Bulls in tomorrow night's McLean Park encounter (hooker Ash Dixon is likely to get game time off the bench) he said there will be no extra pressure on him.
"It's just nice to be taking a game to the provinces. We all know the importance of going back to back. A lot of teams are struggling for consistency at the moment."
Franks agreed tomorrow night's game would be a sharp contrast to his last Super outing on McLean Park when he played for the Crusaders in a 24-19 loss to the Chiefs in 2012. On that occasion the home crowd backed the Chiefs big time and their then all Magpies frontrow of Sona Taumalolo, Hika Elliott and Ben Tameifuna destroyed Franks, his brother Owen and hooker Corey Flynn.
"It doesn't matter if the crowd is cheering or booing ... it all adds to the atmosphere," the diplomatic Franks said.
All Black Victor Vito and fellow loosie Brad Shields will play their first games of the season for the Canes after recovering from knee injuries. Vito will start at No8 and Shields is likely to come off the bench.
Head coach Mark Hammett has been forced to shuffle the backline used in last week's win against the Crusaders. Second five-eighth Tim Bateman is unavailable with a shoulder injury and his berth has been taken by regular winger Alapati Leiua.
All Black outside back and former Magpies fullback Cory Jane returns from an ankle injury to start on the right wing.
All Black prop Jeffery To'omaga-Allen has been bracketed with former All Black prop John Schwalger after collecting a head knock against the Crusaders. Should To'omaga-Allen be ruled out, Schwalger will take his place and Reggie Goodes, who is also returning from injury, will replace Schwalger on the pine.
Veteran Bulls lock Victor Matfield, 36, will take a coaching rather than playing role during the Bulls' four-match tour to Australia and New Zealand which begins with tomorrow night's encounter. Coach Frans Ludeke said Matfield would only play on tour in "special circumstances", mainly in the event of injuries, in accordance with an agreement reached when the former Springboks captain returned to Super Rugby this season. Springbok Flip van der Merwe will take over from Matfield in the starting lineup and resume the captaincy.
In the other change to the pack used in the 34-all draw with the Chiefs, Jacques Engelbrecht will start at No8, with Dewald Potgieter moving to openside flanker in place of Jacques du Plessis, who moves to the bench.
*Hawke's Bay Rugby Union commercial manager Jay Campbell expects more than 9000 fans to attend the game and 6500 tickets had been sold by 2pm yesterday.
Tomorrow night's eighth-grade curtainraisers see Clive face MAC and Napier Old Boys Marist play Taradale. A sixth-grade Rippa game between Tamatea and Havelock North will be played as the Canes and Bulls warm up.
Hurricanes: Andre Taylor, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith (captain), Alapati Leiua, Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Victor Vito, Jack Lam, Faifili Levave, James Broadhurst, Jeremy Thrush, Jeffery To'omaga-Allen/John Schwalger, Dane Coles, Ben Franks.
Substitutes: Forwards, Ash Dixon, Chris Eves, John Schwalger/Reggie Goodes, Blade Thomson, Brad Shields; backs, Billy Guyton, Hadleigh Parkes, Marty Banks.
Bulls: Jurgen Visser, Akona Ndungane, JJ Engelbrecht, Jan Serfontein, Bjorn Basson, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Francois Hougaard, Jacques Engelbrecht, Dewald Potgieter, Deon Stegmann, Flip van der Merwe (captain), Paul Willemse, Werner Kruger, Callie Visagie, Dean Greyling.
Substitutes: Forwards, Bongi Mbonambi, Marcel van der Merwe, Morne Mellett, Grant Hattingh, Jacques du Plessis; Piet van Zyl, Handre Pollard, Ulrich Beyers.
