Barrett brothers save Hurricanes' blushes
The defending champions outscored the Stormers by seven tries to one for their 11th straight win at home.
However, the result was in doubt until the 72nd minute, before another bit of Barrett brilliance set up the try that sealed the victory.
Stormers captain Siya Kolisi admitted it was a disappointing end to their three-match New Zealand tour, but took heart from a much-improved performance – after having lost their previous two tour matches by 24-57 (to the Crusaders) and 14-57 (to the Highlanders).
"We were playing really good rugby, then we make one mistake and they're going for 80-metre tries," he said.
Hurricanes captain Thomas Perenara admitted the Stormers frustrated the home "a little bit".
"I've no doubt that they'll be there at the back end of the season," Perenara added.
The Stormers still lead the Africa One conference and the Hurricanes move up to second in the New Zealand standings behind the unbeaten Crusaders.
It was the Hurricanes' sixth consecutive win and maintains New Zealand teams' unblemished home record against overseas opposition this season.
The Stormers applied early pressure but could only score a penalty before gifting the Hurricanes a try in the ninth minute when Dillyn Leyds' kick was charged down.
The Hurricanes pounced on the mistake, with Beauden Barrett sending up a cross-field kick to set up the try for wing Cory Jane.
It was the first of four first-half tries for the home side, with Julian Savea contributing one and Jordie Barrett scoring a brace.
His first came when he stole the ball from Nizaam Carr as the hooker tried to clear the ball from his own in-goal area and the second stemmed from a perfectly weighted kick by brother Beauden.
The Stormers clawed their way back through their forwards, who set up a line-out drive to take hooker Ramone Samuels across for a try.
Fullback Sarel Marais then kicked two penalties to made it 22-16 at the break.
Another two penalties after the restart levelled the scores at 22-22, with the Stormers forced to dig deep in defence to keep the Hurricanes at bay.
Ngani Laumape finally broke through after the Hurricanes won a scrum then scored another six minutes from time off the back of Julian Savea's run from his own tryline.
Beauden Barrett blew out the scoreline further with another five-pointer after the siren.
Man of the match: Sarel Marais was deadly accurate off the kicking tee and kept his team in the hunt. The Stormers forwards, as a unit, also deserve recognition for their efforts. Thomas Perenara was a massive influence in the game. However, there is no doubting the brilliance of the two Barrett brothers, Jordie and Beauden, was the difference between the two teams.
The scorers:
For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Jane, J Barrett 2, J Savea, Laumape, A Savea, Aso, B Barrett
Cons: J Barrett 3
For the Stormers:
Try:Samuels
Con: Du Preez
Pens: Du Preez, Marais 4
Yellow cards: Bongi Mbonambi (Stormers, 22 – cynical foul, collapsing the maul), Brad Shields (Hurricanes, 69 – cynical foul, collapsing the maul)
Teams:
Hurricanes: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Vince Aso, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Thomas Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Callum Gibbins, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Vaea Fifita, 4 Mark Abbott, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Ben May.
Replacements: 16 Leni Apisai, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Michael Kainga, 19 James Blackwell, 20 Reed Prinsep, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Otere Black, 23 Ben Lam.
Stormers: 15 Sarel Marais, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Siya Kolisi (captain), 6 Kobus van Dyk, 5 Chris van Zyl, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Oliver Kebble, 19 John Schickerling, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Dan Kriel, 23 Bjorn Basson.
Referee: Glen Jackson
Assistant referees: Brendon Pickerill, Ben O'Keeffe
TMO: Glenn Newman
