Hurricanes outclass fumbling Force
The Hurricanes held a slender 10-6 lead at the half-time interval but 31 unanswered second half points saw the home side blow their opponents out of the water.
The Hurricanes scored six tries to nil in perfect conditions at Palmerston North, plundering 31 points in the second half as the Force faded after a promising start.
The result extends Wellington's winning streak over the Perth side to eight matches and provides a confidence boost after a shaky start to the season.
"We had to grind away. In the second half we kept our intensity up. We knew if we did that we could open the game up like we did," captain Dane Coles said.
The early exchanges were a contrast in styles as the Hurricanes' star-studded backline ran the ball and the Force forwards patiently worked for territory.
The Hurricanes should have had two tries in the first 10 minutes but handling errors let them down and the Force went ahead through a Peter Grant penalty.
Coles, in his first match this season after an injury lay-off, hit back for the Hurricanes in the 25th minute, crossing for a try from a line-out to make it 10-3 at the break.
The gap narrowed to 10-6 soon after the restart and another opportunity went begging for the Hurricanes thanks to Ross Haylett-Petty's try-saving tackle on Vaea Fifita.
The visitors' defence finally cracked to allow a second try when James Marshall capped off a sweeping backline move that took the ball the width of the field.
TJ Perenara then put the result beyond doubt with the Hurricanes' third, set up by a surging run from Willis Halaholo.
It became a rout as the Hurricanes tore apart the tiring Force defence, with Blade Thomson, Ngani Laumape and Ardie Savea notching five-pointers, the last from a line-out drive.
Scorers:
For Hurricanes:
Tries: Coles, Marshall, Perenara, Thomson, Laumape, A Savea
Cons: Barrett 4
Pen: Barrett
For Western Force:
Pens: Grant 2
Teams:
Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Vince Aso, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Mark Abbott, 4 Blade Thomson, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles (captain), 1 Chris Eves.
Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli, 17 Loni Uhila, 18 Ben May, 19 Michael Fatialofa, 20 Callum Gibbins, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Willis Halaholo, 23 Jason Woodward.
Western Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Marcel Brache, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Solomoni Rasolea, 11 Semisi Masirewa, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Ross Haylett-Petty, 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pekahou Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Chris Heiberg, 17 Heath Tessmann, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Sitiveni Mafi, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Ryan Louwrens, 22 Ian Prior, 23 Albert Nikoro.
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
