Canterbury name strong side for home semifinal against Hawkes Bay

Canterbury welcome back a number of players this weekend, as they look to start another home finals run in the Farah Palmer Cup, presented by Bunnings Warehouse. 

The forwards remain unchanged from the come-from-behind win against Auckland, highlighted by young loose forward Lucy Jenkins bringing up her 50th game for the province. 

“Lucy is a real competitor.” said FPC Head Coach Jimmy Sinclair, “Watching her journey through the ranks of Canterbury Rugby, debuting as a 16-year-old in 2017, to now being a Black Fern has been really special.” 

“Lucy’s preparation pregame enables her to be one of the most consistent performers in the environment and we can’t wait to honour her on her special milestone this weekend.” 

In the backs, Rosie Kelly, Grace Steinmetz and Grace Brooker all return after missing the trip to Auckland, while Hayley Hutana moves into the #15 jersey. 

Chelsea Bremner also returns to action via the bench, recovering from a broken finger. 

“We’re now at the pointy end of the season, and we’ve got to prepare for each week like it’s our last.” said Sinclair.  

“Hawke’s Bay will look to take it to us on Sunday, they have a real strong power game and we’ll be prepared for this. We know they’ll be a different team to win we last played them in Hastings and we know they’ll be fired up for a chance to knock us out and make the final.” 

Kick off in the Semi-Final is 1:05pm, Sunday the 3rd of September at Rugby Park, with entry just $10, with U16’s free.