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VIDEO: Hurricanes dent Lions' play-off hopes

MATCH REPORT: The Hurricanes marched to a 37-17 win over the Lions at Ellis Park.

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The Hurricanes suffered a massive blow with the late withdrawal of Beauden Barrett.

However, it did not halt the Wellington side’s momentum, who outscored the Lions five tries to two.

The result means that the Hurricanes have booked a home quarterfinal with a round still to play.

As it happened: LIONS V HURRICANES

The Hurricanes were the first team on the board when, Ngani Laumape, took his try tally to 11 with an amazing line break and the first try of the match. Jordie Barrett added the easy extras for the 7-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Lions hit back and levelled the score. As Aphiwe Dyantyi bravely collected his own chip-kick for the five-pointer. Shaun Reynolds made sure to add the conversion.

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The hosts continued to pile on the pressure inside the Hurriance’ five but found it difficult to break through the solid defence. Eventually, after multiple phases, the hosts opted for the poles. Reynolds’ boot proved again successful as the South Africans took the 10-7 lead after the first quarter.

But unfortunately for the Lions, they also suffered a major setback when Kwagga Smith had to leave the field with an injury.

The match certainly took a tit-for-tat scoring pattern because just before the break Hurricanes levelled the score as Barrett slotted over a 35-metre penalty, making it 10-all after 40 minutes.

Less than a minute into the second half, the Hurricanes took the lead after some sloppy work from the Lions made sure Ben Lam scooped up a loose ball and strolled in for the try. Barrett added the conversion for the 17-10 lead.

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From the restart, Dyantyi made an impressive break up to the Hurricanes’ 22, before handing it to prop Carlu Sadie. However, the opportunity was halted courtesy of replacements Ardie Savea.

With Savea and Dane Coles on the field, the Hurricanes showed why they are the second best  New Zealand team in the competition.

The Wellington side started dominating the score. And following a successful penalty from Barrett, they extended their lead.  Savea again a prominent, made a break down the line before his pop pass made sure Lam went over the chalk for the wing’s second try of the day.

The Lions managed to pull one back when Dyanti rounded off a team try, despite the questionable pass in the lead up to score. Janjties narrowed the deficit to eight points.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, the Hurricanes concluded the match in ruthless fashion. Replacement Coles scored a brace of tries which finally dampened the Lions’ spirit and secured the bonus-point win.

The Hurricanes return to New Zealand to face the Blues at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.

While the Lions will play a must-win encounter against their neighbours the Bulls at Loftus Versveld.

Man of the match: For the Lions Aphiwe Dyantyi along with Carlu Sadie was the standout performers for the side. For the Hurricanes, replacements Ardie Savea and Dane Coles were impressive. However, for his amazing runs and solid, defence out nod goes to Ngani Laumape.

For Lions
Tries: Dyanti 2
Cons: Reynolds, Janjties
Pen: Reynolds

For Hurricanes:
Tries: Laumape, Lam 2, Coles 2
Cons: Barrett 3
Pens: Barrett 2

Teams:

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Shaun Reynolds, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Albertus Smith, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Cyle Brink, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Malcolm Marx (captain), 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Tyrone Green.

Hurricanes: 15 Jordie Barrett,, 14 Ben Lam, 13 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Chase Tiatia, 10 James Marshall, 9 Thomas Perenara (captain), 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 Reed Prinsep, 5 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 4 James Blackwell, 3 Jeff To’omaga-Allen, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Toby Smith.

Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Fraser Armstrong, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Liam Mitchell, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Richard Judd, 22 Danny Toala, 23 Salesi Rayasi.

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Egon Seconds (South Africa), Stefan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Willie Vos (South Africa)

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