Hurricanes rout hapless Chiefs

The Hurricanes kept their Super Rugby play-off chase firmly on track with a six-try rout of the defending champion Chiefs.

The record 45-8 win in Wellington on Saturday made the already congested New Zealand conference even more complicated – with just two points separating the Crusaders (37 points) and Chiefs (35 point), while the Hurricanes and Highlanders are squeezed in the middle, both on 36.

The Chiefs were often their own worst enemies – a combination of sloppy handling and shocking defence gifting opportunities for the Hurricanes in the first half.

In the second half the Chiefs showed more resolve, even when the Hurricanes were in command.

However, the win was the result of the Hurricanes' ability to turn their pressure into points by holding on to the ball and remain patient when the Chiefs' defensive wall held firm.

The big difference was clearly the Hurricanes' ability to turn those opportunities into points, while the Chiefs simply could not profit from their numerous visits to the Hurricanes 22-metre area.

And the Chiefs were also at the wrong end of a lopsided second-half penalty count.

Gareth Anscombe opened the scoring with a penalty in the third minute, but almost immediately the Hurricanes hit back with their first try.

Beauden Barrett exposed some sloppy defence, before Barrett he got it away to Julian Savea, who in turn raced up the middle of the field before he found Andre Taylor – the fullback strolling over. Barrett added the conversion put the Canes 7-3 up.

The Chiefs came back with a powerful surge of their own – bashing away at the line, before a great pass from Asaeli Tikoirotuma saw Liam Squire go over for the five-pointer. Anscombe missed the conversion kick, but the Chiefs held the lead – 8-7.

Then the Hurricanes kicked into overdrive, assisted by some more sloppy defence from the Chiefs.

Ben Franks benefitted from some great build-up work to get the second try –  after Cory Jane did some great work down the wing and Jack Lam had a go, before it was worked out to Franks. Barrett added the conversion to put the Canes 14-8 up.

Julian Savea finished off a move that started inside the Hurricanes 22, following a handling error by Chiefs flank Sam Cane, some sublime inter-passing eventually finding Savea and he had enough pace. Barrett made it 21-8 just past the half-hour mark.

That is how it stayed to the break.

In the first 10 minutes of the second half the Hurricanes laid siege to the Chiefs' line, having three line-outs just five metres out. However, he repeated infringing eventually resulted in the referee issuing a general warning and Barrett slotting a penalty for a 24-8 lead.

Then Julian Savea got his second try, and the Hurricanes' bonus-point score, following a classic wrap-around move between Beauden Barrett and Alapati Leiua – before Savea had a good sprint down the left wing. Barnett added the extras – 31-8 with half-an-hour remaining on the clock.

Australian referee Angus Gardner, who has been having a horror show all season, then made a stupefying decision to send Hurricanes replacement Reggie Goodes to the sin bin – despite the TMO clearly saying that the prop's actions were not deliberate and the ball was thrown into his elbow by a Chiefs player.

Five minutes later, in what appeared to have been a decision based on his guilty conscience, Gardner sent Chiefs lock Brodie Retallick to the bin for coming in at the side of a ruck. At least he could claim he had earlier warned both teams about repeated infringements.

The inevitable try came in the 63rd minute – Jack Lam working his way over after another period of sustained pressure. Barrett added the extras – 38-8.

Brad Shields was next to profit from the Hurricanes' dominance, while Barrett's great kicking show took them to a 45-8 lead with seven minutes remaining on the clock.

And they came close to breaking the 50-point mark, but a forward pass robbed Savea of his hat-trick.

Man of the match: You can always rely on the Chiefs' big forwards – Liam Messam, Brodie Retallick and Ben Tameifuna – doing the hard work. Conrad Smith remains the cement in the Hurricanes' exciting backline. James Broadhurst was a dominant figure in the line-outs and did some great work in the tight exchanges, while Jack Lam had a good day at the office in his 50th Hurricanes appearance. However, our award goes to powerful Hurricanes wing Julian Savea, with his pace and power getting them momentum and more often than not points – two tries in fact.

The scorers:

For the Hurricanes:

Tries: Taylor, Franks, J Savea 2, Lam, Shields

Cons: Barrett 6

Pen: Barrett

For the Chiefs:

Try: Squire

Pen: Anscombe

Yellow cards: Reggie Goodes (Hurricanes, 54 – professional foul, offside), Brodie Retallick (Chiefs, 59 – repeated infringements at the breakdown)

Teams:

Hurricanes: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (captain), 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ben Franks.

Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Reggie Goodes, 19 Brad Shields, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Tim Bateman, 23 Matt Proctor.

Chiefs: 15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Dwayne Sweeney, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Liam Messam (captain), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Tanerau Latimer, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Michael Fitzgerald, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Pauliasi Manu.

Replacements: 16 Mahonri Schwalger, 17 Jamie Mackintosh, 18 Josh Hohneck, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Liam Squire, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Tom Marshall.  

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)

Assistant referees: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Mike Lash (New Zealand)

TMO: Chris Watt (New Zealand)