The Hurricanes rugby coach Colin Cooper has defended his decision to keep All Black halfback Piri Weepu on the bench for Friday's home derby against the Blues.
Alby Mathewson holds on to the number nine jersey with the in-form Willie Ripia remaining at first five.
Weepu has been vocal about his desire to spend more time in his preferred position of halfback, after spending most of 2009 at number 10.
But Cooper says there's a lot of competition in the halves at the moment and Weepu has no qualms about his current role.
