Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper is banking on experience to keep his team's Super 14 rugby hopes alive as they head into Friday night's clash against the Crusaders in Wellington.
With the Hurricanes sitting in eighth place after four consecutive losses, the most recent a 26-29 defeat to the Sharks last weekend, Cooper today named a raft of senior players in his starting lineup in the hope of pulling the team out of their rut.
"We'll be looking for a lot more composure than what we had against the Sharks, we were putting a lot of pressure on ourselves and forcing things, so we've just got to have a lot of confidence," Cooper said.
"If you look at the team we've got a lot of experience in there. We're not far away, we've missed the last two games by four points so we've just got to really trust what we're doing."
Among the changes to the team, All Blacks halfback Piri Weepu returns after being forced into the reserves by Tyson Keats for the last two fixtures.
"He's obviously got a lot of experience over Tyson. Tyson's given us what we needed, particularly in Africa he gave us a lot of energy and Piri wasn't playing to the standard we know he can play," Cooper said.
"But I felt that Piri really came on and made an impact in that second half against the Sharks so he gets his opportunity, but mainly it's the experience that he brings."
All Blacks winger Hosea Gear returns for the first time since suffering a knee injury in the team's season debut against the Blues.
"Again, more experience. There are a lot of caps in Piri and Hosea," Cooper said.
"Bringing H (Gear) back in, he's been working the house down as he usually does so he'll bring experience and confidence.
"As a coach and leader you look to reasons why you keep losing, particularly four in a row, so we're doing a lot of things differently."
Weepu said despite the frustration of being on the bench for the past two weeks, he felt it meant he he was better prepared for Friday's game.
"It's given me the opportunity to look at the game a lot more closely and get the feel of it before I take the field," he said.
"It's going to be pretty tough, especially against the Crusaders.
"They're sitting third on the table, and they're always the team to strive to be like every campaign so obviously there's no extra motivation needed in this game."
Gear was also looking forward to being on the field for the crucial game.
"It's pretty exciting for me. I've been out in a while focusing on getting the injury right, but I'm pretty confident I'll be able to get through the game and I'm really looking forward to it," Gear said.
"It's probably going to be the turning point of our season. We're down four in a row we really can't afford to let any more games slip away from us, so I think we want to first and foremost concentrate on our own performance and hopefully results go from there."
Also facing a must-win game this weekend are the Chiefs, who take on the Highlanders in Mt Maunganui on Saturday.
After losing their last three games, the 2009 finalists now sit in seventh place and will be looking to recapture their former glory against the 11th-placed Highlanders.
Meanwhile, the Blues take on the table-leading Bulls at home in Auckland, after slipping up against the Waratahs in Sydney last week.
The Force play the Stormers in Perth on Friday, while the Waratahs play the Cheetahs in Sydney and the Sharks host the Reds in Durban on Saturday.
