Hammett wary of reborn Super Rebels

24 May 2012, 4:03 pm   -   Source: AAP

Hurricanes' five-eighth Beauden Barrett returns to the Super Rugby fray for the match against the Melbourne Rebels in Wellington.

Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett is in "best guess" mode for Saturday's key Super Rugby clash against the Melbourne Rebels in Wellington.

With two wins from their past two starts - including a shock 28-19 victory over the Crusaders - the Rebels pose a real danger for the Hurricanes, especially after their 37-25 capitulation to the Brumbies last Friday.

Hammett says while there's no danger his team will take the Australians lightly, there is an element of uncertainty around how the Rebels will attack the round-14 match.

"They've played a really good width game, and we're expecting that," he said.

"But two weeks before that, they played more of a muscle-up game, and swung it left and right. It's a wee bit of best guess ... we need to be ready for both."

Hammett said the Rebels did an excellent job outflanking the Crusaders two weeks ago, and were rewarded with a well-deserved win.

"And they got a really good start against the Force, playing a very similar pattern. Even when you know it's coming, it can still be difficult to defend, so we need to be right on our game."

An important part of that comes with the return of five-eighth Beauden Barrett, who started last week's match against the Brumbies on the bench.

He didn't remain there long - All Blacks winger Cory Jane's high ankle injury after 25 minutes saw to that - but Hammett says Barrett's influence in sparking the backline will be handy to have back.

"He's been outstanding for us all year. Last week, we wanted to take a bit of the mental pressure off him but as it was, he ended up playing a fair bit."

Barrett's return is one of five changes from the team which lost to the Brumbies. Flanker Karl Lowe's knee injury gives Jack Lam a rare start, while Faifili Levave replaces All Blacks' camp member Brad Shields at No.6.

Alapati Leiua steps in for Jane on the wing, and Jeffery Toomaga-Allen starts at prop in place of Reg Goodes.

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