Go Canes: Loyal Masterton fans rally | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

They may have had a bit of a rough ride last year, but fans of Super 15 side the Hurricanes still flocked to watch their team practise in Masterton yesterday.

About 200 fans attended the training session on an unusually warm and sunny day at Trusthouse Memorial Park, ahead of tomorrow's hotly-anticipated pre-season game against last year's losing Super-15 semifinalists, the Crusaders.

Tickets to the game in Mangatainoka were in strong demand: by January 19, all 8000 tickets were sold out.

This is the third match in a row at the small, rural football ground.

Fans at yesterday's training session were fully behind the Wellington-based team - no Crusaders banners were spotted in the crowd - but opinion on their team's chances in this year's competition was mixed.

"They'll probably do a bit better than last year, but I dunno really," Hurricanes fan Joe Wyeth said.

"It all depends on how strong their opponents are ... but if they practise enough, you never know."

Masterton resident Stacey Grant concurred.

"I think they'll start slow, but they'll finish all right," he said.

The team will be captained by All Black Victor Vito for tomorrow's game, while World Cup star Cory Jane will also be in the line-up.

The game kicks off at 3pm.