Fourteen-man Hurricanes go top with late penalty against Chiefs
FRIDAY WRAP: Brett Cameron nailed a late long-range penalty as the Hurricanes overcame an early red card to beat the Chiefs 20-17 and move to the top of the Super Rugby ladder Friday.
With just one round of the regular season to play, the ‘Canes lead the table by a point from the Blues who meet misfiring defending champions Crusaders on Saturday.
The Brumbies consolidated their place in third with a 53-17 thrashing of the Melbourne Rebels in Canberra to leave them five points clear of the Chiefs and two behind the Blues.
In front of a sell-out crowd in Hamilton, the Hurricanes raced to a 14-0 lead at the break despite hooker Raymond Tuputupu being sent off in the eighth minute for high contact.
But in a thrilling second half, the Chiefs rallied to level at 17-17 before flyhalf Cameron sealed the visitors’ win with a kick from more than 40 metres with a minute left.
“It’s huge to get a win on the road, especially at this stage of the season with home finals at stake,” said Cameron, who scored 10 points.
“We were happy with how we were going at half-time, moving the ball well. I guess we just had to ride the momentum in the second half, be calm and stay in it.”
The Hurricanes scored the first try through prop Xavier Numia and Jordie Barrett added a second to build their half-time advantage.
But the Chiefs’ Emoni Narawa and Wallace Sititi crossed in the second half, while Damian McKenzie added two conversions and a penalty to set up the grandstand finish.
In Canberra, a rampant Brumbies ran in seven tries against the Rebels, with Noah Lolesio converting six of them to maintain their unbeaten run at home this season.
Tom Wright (two), Jahrome Brown, Nick Frost, Billy Pollard, Rhys Van Nek and Luke Reimer all crossed for the home side, while Filipo Daugunu and Angelo Smith scored for the Rebels.
See below for Friday’s scores and scorers!
Brumbies 53-17 Rebels
The scorers:
For Brumbies:
Tries: Reimer, Van Nek, Wright 2, Pollard, Frost, Brown
Cons: Lolesio 6
Pens: Lolesio 2
For Rebels:
Tries: Smith, Daugunu
Cons: Strachan 2
Pen: Jooste
Teams:
Brumbies: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andy Muirhead, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Tamati Tua, 11 Corey Toole, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Ryan Lonergan, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Jahrome Brown, 6 Nick Frost, 5 Tom Hooper, 4 Darcy Swain, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Liam Bowron, 17 Rhys van Nek, 18 Sosefo Kautai, 19 Cadeyrn Neville, 20 Luke Reimer, 21 Harrison Goddard, 22 Jack Debreczeni, 23 Ollie Sapsford.
Rebels: 15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Glen Vaihu, 13 Filipo Daugunu, 12 Nick Jooset, 11 Darby Lancaster, 10 Jake Strachan, 9 Ryan Louwrens, 8 Vaiolini Ekuasio, 7 Brad Wilkin, 6 Rob Leota, 5 Josh Canham, 4 Angelo Smith, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Jordan Uelese, 1 Isaac Kailea.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Dobbins, 17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Luke Callan, 20 Maciu Nabolakasi, 21 Tuaiana Taii Tualima, 22 James Tuttle, 23 Mason Gordon.
Referee: Angus Gardner
Assistant referees: Matt Kellahan, Jordan Kaminski
TMO: Oli Kellett
Chiefs 17-20 Hurricanes
The scorers:
For Chiefs:
Tries: Narawa, Sititi
Cons: McKenzie 2
Pen: McKenzie
For Hurricanes:
Tries: Numia, Barrett
Cons: Cameron 2
Pens: Cameron 2
Red card: Raymond Tuputupu (Hurricanes, 6′ – foul play, head contact)
Yellow cards: Kaylum Boshier (Chiefs, 24′); Kini Naholo (Hurricanes, 57′)
Teams:
Chiefs: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Quinn Tupaea, 11 Etene Nanai-Seturo, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Luke Jacobson (captain), 7 Kaylum Boshier, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 3 George Dyer, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Aidan Ross.
Replacements: 16 Tyrone Thompson, 17 Jared Proffit, 18 Sione Ahio, 19 Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Rameka Poihipi.
Hurricanes: 15 Ruben Love, 14 Josh Moorby, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett (captain), 11 Kini Naholo, 10 Brett Cameron, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Brayden Iose, 7 Peter Lakai, 6 Devan Flanders, 5 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 4 Justin Sangster, 3 Pasilio Tosi, 2 Raymond Tuputupu, 1 Xavier Numia.
Replacements: 16 James O’Reilly, 17 Pouri Rakete-Stones, 18 Tevita Mafileo, 19 Caleb Delany, 20 Te Kamaka Howden, 21 Richard Judd, 22 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 23 Salesi Rayasi.
Referee: Paul Williams
Assistant referees: Dan Waenga, Mike Winter
TMO: Richard Kelly
