Rugby: Hurricanes ready for big second half of season

Callum Gibbins of the Hurricanes breaks away. Photo / Getty Images

You could argue the Hurricanes' season starts again this week.

They're at the top of the Super Rugby standings with seven wins from as many games but the tough side of the draw is all in front them. They're fresh off their second, and final, bye and will meet Kiwi opposition in six of their final nine games.

This Saturday's home outing against the Waratahs at Westpac Stadium will mark the halfway point of the Hurricanes' campaign.

As is commonplace for teams these days, they're not publicly talking about their playoff ambitions.

"We are doing a week at a time," Hurricanes technical coach Richard Watt said. "We are finding that's working for us at the moment."

Watt said the Waratahs were a dangerous prospect given they were upset 32-18 by the Stormers on Saturday.

"They're a team that's a bit wounded at the moment. That loss on the weekend's probably stung them," Watt said. "So they're going to be quite desperate for some competition points. If you look at where they're sitting on the table, I think they're about 10th at the moment, so they're going to come here pretty fired up."

The Hurricanes will be without All Blacks Dane Coles (elbow) and Victor Vito (calf). Coles is likely to be back against the Sharks in a month, while Vito is more of a fluid prospect and could return in the next few weeks.

The 4-3 Waratahs have a talented forward pack that is full of Australian internationals, which should pose problems for the Hurricanes, while they also boast the dangerous Israel Folau at fullback.

They're the defending champions for a reason but have been inconsistent in 2015, which in some respects could make them hard to scout but Watt said they would prepare for them at their best.

Meanwhile, Hurricanes flanker Callum Gibbins has signed a one-year contract extension with the Hurricanes that will take him through to the end of the 2016 campaign.

The 26-year-old spent two seasons in the side's wider training group before getting upped to a full deal this year and has kicked on to show what he is capable of.

The Manawatu skipper was handed the No 7 jersey against the Bulls in Pretoria in round two and didn't let the team down.

"He got a start and he stepped up in that game and he showed that he was ready for Super Rugby," Watt said.

Despite a handful of Kiwi players announcing they were moving offshore recently, Gibbins said he never explored his overseas options.

"I've always wanted to be here so when they asked me, there was no hesitation," he said of the new contract. "I want to hang around here for a while and see what happens."

The Hurricanes have always boasted a strong battery of loose forwards and this year is no different with young gun Ardie Savea also in the ranks.

But with Savea (finger) out injured, Gibbins scored a try and performed well in the round eight win over the Stormers recently.