Hurricanes cement top spot
The Hurricanes all but secured top spot on the Super Rugby standings with an impressive 29-5 win over a hapless Blues team in a very wet Auckland on Saturday.
Forced into a number of late changes – with Cory Jane and James Broadhurst ruled out in the 24 hours before kick-off, resulting in a complete reshuffle of the backline – the Hurricanes also overcame the monsoon-like conditions during the match to score four tries.
The bonus point means only two teams can still catch them – the Chiefs and Highlanders.
They are already on 57 points, with the Chiefs and Highlanders able to move of to 59 points. It means the Hurricanes officially became the first side to confirm a Super Rugby play-off spot.
Points were difficult to come by amid limited opportunities for much of the first half, but once the Hurricanes found the way to the line there was no holding them back.
They scored twice in the countdown to half-time to turn in with a 17-0 lead and added two further tries in the second half.
It gave the runaway competition leaders their 12th win from 13 games and the four tries ensured their ninth bonus point.
The Blues, having a disastrous season and playing through continued uncertainty over the future of coach John Kirwan, have now played 14 games and won just three of them.
The heavy rain in Auckland ahead of the game dictated a lot of kicking and subsequent handling errors, with Blues fullback Lolagi Visinia suffering more than most.
But despite the Hurricanes producing the more intelligent kicking game and enjoying a dominance of possession and territory they initially found points hard to come by.
"It was one of those games where the forward pack that stood up the most was going to win and I thought we did a pretty good job in testing conditions," Hurricanes skipper Jeremy Thrush said.
"For the first 20 to 25 minutes we were watching the game a bit. I don't know what happened we just flicked the switch and turned up the dial and the boys started getting into their work and it felt a bit more comfortable with a bit of flow."
The Hurricanes blew an early try scoring opportunity when they conceded a penalty in a close-range line-out drive, and had to wait 35 minutes to touch down for the first time when prop Chris Eves barged his way over.
Just on half-time scrumhalf TJ Perenara scored and with Otere Black landing both conversions and a penalty, the visitors held a 17-0 lead at the break.
The 20-year-old Black, a novice flyhalf at Super Rugby level was a late addition to the 'Canes line up when Cory Jane was ruled out. Original pivot James Marshall was then moved to fullback to replace Nehe Milner-Skudder who took Jane's spot on the wing.
But he produced a sound game and added to his seven first half points with a further conversion when a Dan Coles try extended the Hurricanes lead to 24-0 before the Blues finally put points on the board.
George Moala set up their sole try when he sucked in the Hurricanes defence and delivered a slick off-load to replacement Matt Vaega for the try.
The Hurricanes then closed out the match when Rey Lee-Lo, slotting in at centre in place of All Black Conrad Smith, put Milner-Skudder over in the corner.
Man of the match: Brendon O'Connor did great work at the breakdown, including a few of crucial turn overs, while Akira Ioane was again the Blues' most valuable player. Jamison Gibson-Park also did some great work on cover defence. Otere Black enhanced his reputation, given that he was only confirmed as a starter in the hours leading up to the match, while he received quality service from scrumhalf TJ Perenara – who produced another world class display of scrumhalf play. Julian Savea showed he has plenty of pace to go with his renowned power. You can always look at Jeremy Thrush to provide the muscle up front, while his workrate is at the heart of the success of the Hurricanes pack. Now add in Thrush's monumental work in the line-outs and you have the reason why we awarded this to the second row stalwart.
The scorers:
For the Blues:
Try: Vaega
For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Eves, Perenara, Coles, Milner-Skudder
Cons: Black 3
Pen: Black
Teams:
Blues: 15 Lolagi Visinia, 14 Ben Lam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 George Moala, 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Brendon O'Connor, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Culum Retallick, 3 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 2 James Parsons (captain), 1 Sam Prattley.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Angus Ta'avao, 18, Nic Mayhew, 19 Will Lloyd, 20 Joe Edwards, 21 Jimmy Cowan, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Matt Vaega.
Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Otere Black, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Mark Abbott, 4 Jeremy Thrush (captain), 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Chris Eves.
Replacements: 16. Motu Matu'u, 17 Ben May, 18 Tolu Fahamokioa, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Brad Shields, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Cory Jane, 23 Willis Halaholo.
Referee: Nick Briant
Assistant referees: Ben O'Keeffe, Aki Aso
TMO: Aaron Paterson
