Hurricanes Culture Round team to take on the Blues

The Hurricanes are set for the Round 3 Culture Round double header in the Capital. On Saturday, both the Hurricanes Poua and Hurricanes will play their first home games for 2025 at SKY Stadium.  

The Hurricanes men’s side has been named to take on the Blues this Saturday night at 7:05PM and it’s a strong team with 24-year-old Kade Banks set to make his debut at full-back, having previously worn the Blues jersey in 2024.  

Hurricanes Head Coach Clark Laidlaw said “We're excited to be back in Wellington and play our first home game at SKY Stadium for 2025. It’s Culture Round and we’ve had an enjoyable week connecting our different cultures.”

“It’s great to be able to have Kade Banks in the team this week, he’s had a really strong preseason and deserves this opportunity to debut” 

“Being the 2024 champions, the Blues will be highly motivated and demand a top-quality performance from us. We certainly feel inspired to play well and meet that demand.”

The Hurricanes’ current leading points scorer for 2025, Harry Godfrey continues at first-five with All Black, Cam Roigard, starting at half-back for the third week in a row.  Isaia Walker-Leawere comes back into the side, while Pasilio Tosi will get his first start of 2025. Peter Lakai starts at the back of the scrum and Brayden Iose will look to produce a powerful performance from the bench. 

The Hurricanes Under 20s (team named Friday 12pm) will play the Crusaders at NZCIS, Upper Hutt at 11:30AM, prior to the Hurricanes Poua (team named Thursday 4pm) kicking off at SKY Stadium at 4:35PM.