Ethan De Groot<\/a>, Timoci Tavatavanawai and Fabian Holland bringing plenty of test experience. <\/p>\nJosh Jacomb joins their ranks as does Shannon Frizell on his return from Japan, with Argentine Tom\u00e1s Lavanini and Fijian Joseva Tamani bringing further international experience to the Highlanders. <\/p>\n
![\"Ethan]()
Ethan de Groot (left) recently re-signed with NZ Rugby and will stay at the club until 2029. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said there is healthy competition among several positions this season. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe important thing for us is we\u2019re not starting again,\u201d Joseph said. <\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of these young guys have now had exposure to Super Rugby, we\u2019ve been able to keep them together, and we\u2019ve added some quality and experience around them. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenge now is turning that into performance. It has been really pleasing to see players from our environment get opportunities at the next level. <\/p>\n
\u201cTimoci has continued to grow as a player and leader, and Saula has worked incredibly hard for his opportunity. <\/p>\n
\u201cGetting Shannon back and having Fabian available again is important as well. It adds experience and quality to the group and creates more competition for places. <\/p>\n
\u201cHalfback is another good example of that competition, Folau has played at the highest level and we know what he can bring, while Dylan and Adam are young players who are continuing to develop and push hard for opportunities. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want players waiting for their turn. We want them putting pressure on each other and making selection difficult for us. That\u2019s how the whole group gets better.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hurricanes squad<\/p>\n
Props: Siale Lauaki, Tyrel Lomax, Xavier Numia, Pasilio Tosi, Tito Tuipulotu, Rohan Wingham<\/p>\n
Hookers: Asafo Aumua, Vernon Bason, Jacob Devery, Raymond Tuputupu<\/p>\n
Locks: Alefosio Aho, Caleb Delany, Dylan Eti, Hunter Morrison, Hugo Plummer<\/p>\n
Loose Forwards: Oliver Haig, Brayden Iose, Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi, Peter Lakai, Arese Poliko, Brad Shields, Semisi Tupou Ta\u2019eiloa<\/p>\n
Halfbacks: Bryn Hall, Cam Roigard, Jordi Viljoen<\/p>\n
First Fives: Brett Cameron, Harry Godfrey, Ruben Love<\/p>\n
Midfielders: T\u0101miro Armstrong, Jordie Barrett, Heremaia Murray, Billy Proctor, Jone Rova<\/p>\n
Outside Backs: Josh Gray, Fehi Fineanganofo, Callum Harkin, Josh Moorby, Kini Naholo, Ngane Punivai<\/p>\n
Highlanders squad<\/p>\n
Props: Jermaine Ainsley, Josh Bartlett, Ethan De Groot, Ben\u00e9t Kumeroa Saula Ma\u2019u, Jack Sexton, Angus Ta\u2019avao <\/p>\n
Hookers: Henry Bell, Ioane Moananu, Jack Taylor <\/p>\n
Locks: Mitch Dunshea, Fabian Holland, Tomas Lavanini, Josh Tengblad<\/p>\n
Loose Forwards: Nikora Broughton, Lucas Casey, Shannon Frizell, Te Kamaka Howden, Veveni Lasaqa, Joseva Tamani, Will Stodart, Sean Withy <\/p>\n
Halfbacks: Folau Fakatava, Adam Lennox, Dylan Pledger<\/p>\n
First Fives: Josh Jacomb, Mika Muliaina, Patrick Pellegrini<\/p>\n
Midfielders: Meihana Grindlay, Reesjan Pasitoa, Timoci Tavatavanawai Josh Whaanga <\/p>\n
Outside Backs: Finn Hurley, Jona Nareki, Stanley Solomon, Caleb Tangitau, Tuna Tuitama, Xavier Tito-Harris, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens<\/p>\n
More to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s not only been a process over the NPC, but it started back in January around trying to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[89838,22666,32613,64,63,21677,10970,580,10956,760,161,85,149826,1643,94841,22671],"class_list":["post-943322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-89838","tag-ahead","tag-announced","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-being","tag-club","tag-for","tag-pacific","tag-rugby","tag-season","tag-sports","tag-squads","tag-super","tag-unveiled","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}