Waratahs end Hurricanes' streak
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The Waratahs beat the Hurricanes 29-24 in Wellington, to hand the home side their first defeat of the season.
The loss for the Hurricanes was not enough to knock them off the top of the Super Rugby standings, but for the Waratahs it meant a rapid rise from 10th place into the top six.
With both sides favouring a running game the match was an eight-try extravaganza, with both sides securing a four-try bonus point.
The Hurricanes picked up an extra bonus point for the close finish to put them a point ahead of the Chiefs who had briefly hit the front of the competition following their 26-9 win over the Crusaders on Friday.
The hosts looked to have struck first when a great team effort saw Ardie Savea go over, but he wasted the chance by fumbling the ball as he tried to ground it.
Instead it would be the Waratahs to open the scoring when a patient build-up saw Peter Betham score out wide to put them 7-0 up.
The Hurricanes responded with two quick tries as first skipper Conrad Smith scored on the blindside of an attacking scrum and then flyhalf Beauden Barrett collected a chip kick to race away.
Barrett landed both conversions from either touchline, but the Waratahs hit back with big Will Skelton going over to cut the Hurricanes lead to 14-12.
The tries kept coming and Hurricanes No.8 Brad Shields was next to score as he rounded off another impressive attacking movement before Betham grabbed a late intercept try which saw the teams go into the half-time break deadlocked at 19-19.
The Waratahs were first to claim the bonus point when Israel Folau got over in the corner after a great run from Michael Hooper and they took their lead out to 10 points shortly afterwards with a Foley penalty.
The Hurricanes finally got their bonus point as TJ Perenara dotted down with just 10 minutes to play, setting up a tense finish to the game but the Waratahs were able to hold on for the win.
Although the Waratahs went into the match with a four-wins, three-losses record for the season, captain Dave Dennis said they never stopped believing in themselves.
"Not many people gave us a chance against the leaders, but we had a lot of belief that we could come over here and put in a good performance, and although it wasn't perfect it was a very big win for us," he said.
Hurricanes skipper Conrad Smith blamed poor defence for their first loss in eight games.
"We felt we could create a lot of opportunities on attack, and we did that, but we leaked too many tries. (Defence) is something we've done well so far this season but it wasn't good enough tonight," Smith said.
Man of the match: There were plenty of candidates. Both Hurricanes halfbacks were impressive, while Nehe Milner-Skudder, Ma'a Nonu and Brad Shields also made an impact. For the Waratahs Peter Betham scored two tries and Israel Folau was dangerous in space, but our award goes to Wycliff Palu who put his body on the line and got his side going forward on attack and defence.
The scorers:
For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Smith, Barrett, Shields, Perenara
Cons: Barrett 2
For the Waratahs:
Tries: Betham 2, Skelton, Folau
Cons: Foley 3
Pen: Foley
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 Brayden Mitchell, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 Chris Eves, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Adam Hill, 21 Frae Wilson, 22 Rey Lee-Lo, 23 James Marshall.
Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Peter Betham, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Pat McCutcheon, 5 Dave Dennis (captain), 4 Will Skelton, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Mitchell Chapman, 21 Stephen Hoiles, 22 Brendan McKibbin, 23 Matt Carraro.
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Shane McDermott (New Zealand), Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
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