The Hurricanes have ruled out a Wellington return for former All Blacks Aaron Cruden or Lima Sopoaga, as they search far and wide to find a replacement for Blues‑bound Beauden Barrett.
With Barrett's new NZR contract seeing him trade Wellington for Auckland heading into the 2020 season the Hurricanes are without a senior first‑five on their roster.
At the moment, youngster Fletcher Smith and journeyman Jackson Garden‑Bachop are the only two specialist number 10s on the Hurricanes books, however CEO Avan Lee was happy to draw a line through the names of overseas Kiwi players to step in.
Source: TV NZ sports
