Hurricanes ready for home semi

Victor Vito is looking forward to the Hurricanes' home semifinal. Photo / Getty Images

Let the hype begin.

The Hurricanes have earned home advantage for the Super Rugby semifinals and the prospect of playing in their first final since 2006 is a firm reality.

They will host the Brumbies at Westpac Stadium in the capital on Saturday night after the Canberra-based outfit upset the Stormers 39-19 in Cape Town in their elimination final during the weekend.

Chris Boyd's Hurricanes arrived at work at Rugby League Park in Newtown today with the biggest week of their campaign ahead of them.

"The buzz has definitely picked up now that we know who we are playing and I think that's probably more from family members and friends and that kind of thing," loose forward Victor Vito said.

"But we've had this goal in our minds for quite a while so it's just about going about our work and making sure that sort of stuff doesn't really get to us."

The Hurricanes haven't been involved in the playoffs since 2009 when they went on the road to Hamilton and were bounced out of the competition by the Chiefs.

Playing in familiar surroundings this week will give the Hurricanes a massive boost, while the Brumbies will endure a tough travel schedule to get to Wellington.

"Having a home semi is a big thing for us because we really want to do it in front of our fans," Vito said.

The Brumbies will start as outsiders this week but they have the tightest defence in the competition and appear to be hitting their stride at the right time, despite losing their final regular season game to the Crusaders.

"They've always been a very classy outfit that knows how to apply pressure. So we are definitely going to have a job on our hands," Vito said.

"But we didn't get here for no reason either, so we'll back ourselves."

On the injury front, the Hurricanes are sweating on outside backs Cory Jane and Nehe Milner-Skudder who are managing hamstring niggles, while versatile forward Blade Thomson has an ankle complaint but Boyd expected he would play a role this weekend.
"We've got plenty of options," Boyd said.

The Hurricanes had a team meeting this morning where they celebrated the fact they had 12 players - including potential debutants James Broadhurst and Milner-Skudder - selected in the 41-strong All Blacks squad yesterday.

But Boyd said once the dust had settled, they quickly turned their focus to this weekend's match.

"I can honestly say I don't think from Conrad Smith down, I don't think there's one single person sitting in this room this morning that was thinking about the World Cup or the All Blacks or anything. All they're concentrating on is beating the Brumbies in the weekend."

The Brumbies could be without wing Henry Speight who will front the judiciary this week after he performed an illegal tackle during his side's win over the Stormers.

"He's a quality player, Henry, and they'll miss him but they've got some good options there as well," Boyd said.

One big task for the Hurricanes will be devising a plan to stop the Brumbies' dominance at the lineout, which is the base they use to launch a majority of their attack.