The Hurricanes moved to the top of the New Zealand conference as they claimed an impressive 25-13 win over the Chiefs in Wellington on Friday. CRAIG LEWIS reports.
Last weekend, the Canes required a last-gasp try to clinch a fortuitous win over the Sharks, but the 2016 champs again underlined their credentials as this season’s early tournament favourites as they produced a classy second-half performance to tame the dangerous Chiefs.
The victory also enabled the Canes to leapfrog the Crusaders into top spot in the Kiwi conference, while they also move (at least temporarily) to the summit of the overall standings.
This clash was always expected to be a closely-fought affair between two quality New Zealand sides, and the first half delivered just that, but the outstanding defence of the Canes was ultimately a defining factor.
The only try in the opening stanza came early on when Canes wing Ben Lam ghosted past three would-be defenders to go over for his ninth five-pointer of the season, but there was very little to choose between the two sides after that.
In fact, while both teams looked extremely dangerous with ball in hand, the cover defence repeatedly stood up to the test, and in the end, the Chiefs’ only points of the half would come through a couple of penalties to Damian McKenzie.
McKenzie had been struggling with an injury niggle leading up this match, but he was able to take up his place at No 10, and looked typically lively as he lined up opposite All Black incumbent Beauden Barrett.
Yet, it would be Barrett who emphatically made his mark on the proceedings just after the restart when he scored a scintillating solo try, before his perfectly weighted cross-kick then found Ngani Laumape, who went over to score.
That Barrett masterclass suddenly enabled the Canes to surge into a commanding 22-6 lead heading into the final half an hour, which proved to be decisive in the context of the clash.
The Chiefs did ignite some hope of a comeback when Lachlan Boshier was put away to score just before the hour mark, but the Canes’ defence held firm from there, while Jordie Barrett added one final penalty with the last play of the game.
Hurricanes – Tries: Ben Lam, Beauden Barrett, Ngani Laumape. Conversions: Jordie Barrett (2). Penalties: Jordie Barrett (2)
Chiefs – Try: Lachlan Boshier. Conversion: Damian McKenzie. Penalties: Damian McKenzie (2)
Hurricanes – 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Vince Aso, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Jamie Booth, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Sam Henwood, 6 Brad Shields (c), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Toby Smith.
Subs: 16 James O’Reilly, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Ben May, 19 Michael Fatialofa, 20 Reed Prinsep, 21 Richard Judd, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Wes Goosen.
Chiefs – 15 Charlie Ngatai (cc), 14 Sean Wainui, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Johnny Fa’auli, 11 Solomon Alaimalo, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 8 Taleni Seu, 7 Sam Cane (cc), 6 Lachlan Boshier, 5 Michael Allardice, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Angus Ta’avao-Matau, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Aidan Ross.
Subs: 16 Liam Polwart, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Jeff Thwaites, 19 Luke Jacobson, 20 Liam Messam, 21 Jonathan Taumateine, 22 Marty McKenzie, 23 Alex Nankivell.
Photo: Mark Tantrum/Getty Images
