Canes triumphant in Wellington thriller
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The Hurricanes survived on meagre possession and with a misfiring line-out to down the Crusaders 29-23 in a high octane clash in Wellington on Saturday.
It was a four-try, bonus-point win for the championship pacesetters who strengthened their position at the head of the table while the Crusaders suffered their sixth loss in 11 games.
At half time it was 17-all with two tries apiece. But in the second half the Crusaders had to rely on penalties for further points while the Hurricanes scored two more tries in a six-minute burst to seal the outcome.
The Hurricanes are looking at securing a play-off spot for the first time since 2009.
However, for the seven-time champion Crusaders it could be the first time since 2001 that their season has ended in pool play.
They had everything in their favour in the fast-paced match, including stealing six line-outs, but they could not stem the Hurricanes' ability to mount an attack from anywhere at any time.
The variety of options taken by a star-studded backline, lead by flyhalf Beauden Barrett and including fellow All Blacks Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu and Julian Savea, proved too much for the Crusaders to contain, particularly in the second half.
It was the Crusaders who opened the scoring with an early try to Dan Carter.
Then minutes later when they were on the brink of scoring again a Colin Slade pass hit Nonu and rebounded into the hands of Barrett who replied with a 90-metre sprint to score at the other end.
The match had no sooner restarted when the game produced its third try in the opening 12 minutes with Nehe Milner-Skudder, Ardie Savea and Smith all featuring in a move finished by Brad Shields.
In the helter-skelter game, Slade landed a penalty and then stepped his way through for the Crusaders second try before Barrett replied with a penalty for the Hurricanes to close the first half.
In a see-sawing second half, Slade added two more penalties, while the Hurricanes produced tries by Reggie Goodes and Blade Thomson.
With time almost up and only six points behind, the Crusaders launched a final attack and controlled play for nearly six minutes as they worked their way up-field – only to be held out by a stubborn Hurricanes defence.
Man of the match: The game was controlled by two excellent displays from the flyhalves in the match. Colin Slade was electric and entertaining, probably even more involved than Beauden Barrett. However, this did lead to a few more mistakes and for that Barrett deserves the award.
Scorers:
For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Barrett, Shields, Goodes, Thomson
Cons: Barrett 3
Pen: Barrett
For the Crusaders:
Tries: Carter, Slade
Cons: Slade 2
Pens: Slade 3
Yellow Card: Ma'a Nonu (Hurricanes, 29 – illegal play, offside at the ruck)
Teams:
Hurricanes: 15 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (captain), 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Brad Shields, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Callum Gibbins, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Motu Matu'u, 1 Reggie Goodes.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 Chris Eves, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Blade Thomson, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Matt Proctor, 23 James Marshall.
Crusaders: 15 Tom Taylor, 14 David Havili, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Dan Carter, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 Luke Whitelock, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Kieron Fonotia, 23 Nafi Tuitavake.
Referee: Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Shane McDermott (New Zealand), Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand)
TMO: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)
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