News

Eaton locks in on Crusaders

May 22 2008

Hurricanes lock Jason Eaton hopes he won't be eating his words when he comes up against New Zealand nemesis the Crusaders in the Super 14 semi-final in Christchurch on Saturday.

The ten-cap All Black has made a quiet return to rugby after nine months recovering from a serious knee injury that ruined his World Cup dream last year, but was not shy in saying his opposition are more vulnerable now than ever before after a few shaky performances.

"They definitely not as sharp as they used to be," Eaton told Planet Rugby.

"In previous games, it's obvious they haven't been quite as dominant as they can be.

"But in saying that, they're a team that have been in semi-finals and finals so often that you just can never ever underestimate their potential."

With close escapes against the Sharks and the Reds in successive weeks followed by a loss to the lowly Highlanders in the Crusaders' last outing, Eaton has a point.

The 25-year-old is also right saying the six-time Super Rugby champs' dip in form of late is not to be taken lightly - especially with the dominating stats the red and black machine have over their yellow and black army from the capital city of Wellington.

The Crusaders seem to have the wood over their New Zealand neighbours having beaten the Hurricanes twelve times in sixteen meetings. Two of those victories have come in the play-off stages, and one in the Super 14 final in 2006 - quite disconcerting if you're a Hurricanes' supporter.

"If anything, I think it's just more motivation for us to win heading into this match," said Eaton.

"Personally, I've never beaten them, so I'd love nothing more than to get one over them on their home ground and move on to the Final.

"We're confident enough to beat them, we've got one hell of a team and special game-breakers to do the job.

"The vibe in the camp is better than ever and everyone is very confident.

"We put our bodies on the line game after game to reach the finals, so now that we are here, the boys know they have to make it count."

While the Crusaders' dominance of Super Rugby is reflected in their superior record against the Hurricanes, last weekend's hurry up from the Blues has left no margin for error in the Hurricanes' preparation for Saturday.

"I suppose losing to the Blues has made us extra cautious in a way," said Eaton.

"We know things didn't go our way last week and we weren't good enough on the night, but this is now a completely different match with even more to lose.

"It's a semi-final and a do-or-die battle, so we know what needs to be done and will be raising our performance out there on the track on Saturday.

"There's little room for error in the play-off stages, one mistake and you can kiss your title hopes goodbye"

Having locked horns with the Crusaders two years ago in a final remembered more for the fog than the result, Eaton is no stranger to playing in the knock-out stages of the tournament.

Having lost 19-12 in a match that has been nicknamed the "Gorillas in the Mist", after the film of the same name - the sweet taste of revenge is the last thing on Eaton's mind.

"I don't think it would be too much of a case of revenge," said Eaton.

"It was a completely different team that year, only a handful of the squad playing now took part in that match. So luckily not too many of the guys playing on Saturday will have any bad memories going into this weekend's encounter."

With the rain gods set to do their dreaded dance once again this weekend, we asked if the Hurricanes' players will be taking fog horns with them just in case.

"Yeah, we'll be scratching in our bags to pull out the ones we got for Christmas two years ago," laughs Eaton.

"Luckily no fog has been forecast, however we are expecting it to rain.

"But we had a slog in the wet against the Force a couple of weeks ago and came out unscathed in that match, so we're confident we can get by again.

"Come rain or shine, we have contingency plans to cater for both."

One setback that is out of the Hurricanes' control is the fitness of captain and number eight Rodney So'oialo, who is still nursing bruised ribs suffered against the Blues last week, but has been named in the starting line-up despite the chance he may not play.

"I believe we are going to wait a couple more days to see if Rodders is good to go," said Eaton of his injured skipper.

"He does a lot of work and always leads by example, but in saying that, we've got sufficient cover from guys that have performed well this year.

"Players like Scott and Thomas Waldrom are more than capable of filling his (So'oialo's) shoes, so there's enough talent to fill that hole."

And with former Hurricanes full-back Christian Cullen offering free advice to the Hurricanes to adopt a more attacking attitude than during their 13-20 mid-season loss to the Crusaders in Wellington, Eaton agrees with what the All Black legend has to say.

"Definitely!," said Eaton.

"While we're grateful for Cullen's advice, we would have been doing that anyway.

"If we can disrupt them from up front and stop them from getting any momentum or crossing the advantage line from the set pieces, it will go a long way in allowing us to play our own game and hopefully reap the rewards."

The athletic Eaton will dispute possession with Crusaders Ali Williams and Brad Thorn, the southern locking duo who are favoured by many to be reunited when the All Blacks squad is named on June 1 - six days out from the Test against Ireland in Wellington.

"It's always a great chance to play against the likes of Ali Williams and Brad Thorn who have been the form New Zealand locks throughout this competition," said Eaton.

"This will be a better time than ever to solidify my role within the team against top class opposition. If I can perform well, do what's required and the team can come away with a win, I'll be happy. Anything less is non-negotiable.

Williams was a thorn in the Hurricanes' side in this year's round-robin match, scoring from a lucky bounce against the home side that ultimately proved the difference between the two teams.

We asked if Eaton - who also goes by the nickname of "Pig" - was hoping the bounce of the pigskin will help turn the tables in favour of the Hurricanes this time round?

"It would be nice if it ended up that way!" laughs Eaton.

"But in all seriousness, we're not relying on any bounces or the rub of the green. Come kick-off we'll be making our own luck.

"Ali was probably a bit lucky with that try and that's the way things go, but we'll be making sure it doesn't happen again."

Locking resources in New Zealand may have been thin on the ground in the earlier part of the season but almost inevitably the system is showing the cavalry is on the way.

A genuinely big man at over two metres tall, Eaton is a true line-out winning lock who can secure his own throws and steal opposition ball.

He is a mobile player who shows excellent speed for a second-rower and good skills with the ball in hand. Whether these skills have caught the attention of selectors this year remains to be seen.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry recently identified lock and inside centre as the positions throwing up the least options as he finalises his Test squad.

Ali Williams is comfortably New Zealand's premier lock now that Chris Jack has departed for England, Keith Robinson has retired and the injured James Ryan is questioning his future in the sport.

Eaton hasn't earned the plaudits that accompanied his first two years of Super 14 rugby and All Blacks tenure in 2005 and 2006, but has been a favourite of Henry's who plucked the Kiwi farmer from obscurity three years ago.

"To get selected would be fantastic, but I have no idea if I've made the cut or not," said Eaton.

"Obviously I would like to get a good performance on the track to help my chances. But hopefully I've done enough to make the squad and would love the opportunity to play again in the black jersey after injuring myself last year."

The injury Eaton speaks of occurred when he wrecked his knee in the fifth minute of the Hurricanes' win against the Highlanders last year in April.

The injury ruled him out of rugby for the rest of the year, and forced him to stay at home while his All Black team-mates departed for their unsuccessful World Cup campaign.

We weren't sure what would have been worse for Eaton - not going to the World Cup or watching New Zealand lose in the quarter-final?

"Well, to be honest - I didn't actually watch the game," admitted Eaton.

"I'm not keen on watching rugby on the box, but I caught a couple of games minus the quarter-final. I think it's on a tape at home somewhere.

"It was really tough doing the rehab and being out of action. I couldn't do much on the rugby side of things, so I had a lot of time on my hands after watching from the sidelines for nine months."

With still plenty of rugby left in him, 2011 surely must be a long-term goal for another crack at bringing the wee yellow cup home. But it seems Eaton may have other plans up his sleeve.

"I'm not too sure what I'm going to do really," pondered Eaton.

"My contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union expires at the end of the season and options abroad could very well interest me.

"But nothing is set in concrete just yet, I still have time to weigh up my options and see where that takes me."

What's this? Another Kiwi bites the dust and hops on board the ever increasing money train to Europe and Japan. At some stage, there won't be anyone left!

"Yes, it's a wee bit of a concern over here," said Eaton.

"But there's so much young talent coming through that the coaches and management won't find it too hard to fill in the missing shoes.

"And I can understand why everyone is leaving, it's a massive financial opportunity for players to lift themselves up for the future."

To end off, we couldn't resist bringing up the whole Sebastien Chabal look Eaton put himself through in his absence from the game.

Eaton had been growing his beard since suffering his injury, but after months of terrible bed hair, it was time for the ZZ-top look to go.

He was possibly the hairiest man in the Super 14, but Eaton swapped his caveman look for a closer crop, raising NZ$5,000 for the charity CanTeen.

"I've been waiting for this to come up," laughs Eaton.

"Well, obviously I was at a dead-end with my injury and had some time on my hands, so one of my mates suggested I let loose.

"One thing led to another, and after a few months had passed, I thought to myself 'well, I might as well just keep it.'

"I vowed to keep it for my first game back, and after nine months or so it was a reminder of all the hard work I had put in at that time to get back to full fitness again.

"And then of course it was satisfying knowing that my hair could raise a fair bit of money for a charity that helps children with cancer in New Zealand."

Was it a chick puller?

"Lets just say It didn't get me too many dates," admitted Eaton.

Do you miss it?

"No."

By Dave Morris