Canes down Saders in chilly Levin
The Hurricanes blew the Crusaders away in the first-half blitz that saw them score 28 points to win 38-17 in their friendly game in Levin on Friday evening.
Hurricanes centre Rey Lee-Lo was the standout performer setting up three of the Hurricanes four first-half tries and scored two himself in the second-half to carry on the form he'd shown before the competition's month-long break.
The Crusaders opened the scoring after fullback Tom Marshall went over out wide on 10 minutes for a 5-0 lead.
The Hurricanes put together some enterprising play after the Crusaders opened up the scoring and scored two tries of their own to take a 14-5 lead.
They were never going to look back after that and following a Crusaders try they crossed the chalk for two more of their own before the break to lead 28-12 at half-time.
Andre Taylor was on top form with the boot and slotted all four of his attempts at goal in the first 40 minutes.
Lee-Lo scored all of his sides points in the second-half as he crossed for two tries compared to the one score by the Crusaders. The kicking was not great in the second period and all three tries were not converted which meant that the Hurricanes came away with a good 38-17 win.
The scorers:
For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Lee-Lo 2, Goodes, Buckman, Smylie, Pleseuma,
Cons: Taylor 4
For the Crusaders:
Tries: Marshall, Moody, Veainu
Con: Taylor
Teams:
Hurricanes: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Richard Buckman, 13 Reynold Lee-Lo, 12 Ope Peleseuma, 11 Matt Proctor, 10 James Marshall, 9 Chris Smylie, 8 Brad Shields, 7 Karl Lowe, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Blade Thomson, 3 John Schwalger, 2 Ash Dixon, 1 Reg Goodes.
Replacements – from: Timo Tutavaha, Ben May, Mark Reddish, Jason Eaton, Callum Gibbins, Mike Coman, TJ Perenara, Samisoni Fisilau, Nehe Milner-Scudder.
Crusaders: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Adam Whitelock, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Tom Taylor, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Shane Christie, 6 George Whitelock (captain), 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Jimmy Tupou, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Joe Moody.
Replacements – from: Matt Holloway, Marcel Cumming-Toone, Adrian Barone, Jordan Taufua, Andy Ellis, Tyler Bleyendaal, Telusa Veianu, Kieron Fonotia, Joel Everson, Matt Symons.
Date: Friday, June 21
Venue: Levin Domain, Levin
Kick-off: 18.45 (06.45 GMT)
Referee: TBC
