HURRICANES WHALLOP WARATAHS IN WELLINGTON
After a slight stutter in Canberra last weekend, the Hurricane's train is back on track after an emphatic win over the Waratahs in Wellington tonight.
The Hurricane's ninth win of the season has them on top of the Super Rugby Pacific table six points clear of second, while TJ Perenara extended his record as the competition's leading try scorer with the 63rd of his career coming right on the siren.
It was an explosive start for the Hurricane's, who scored three tries in the opening twenty minutes, before a late brace by Salesi Rayasi sealed the victory.
"That's the result we prepared all week for, we were happy to come back home and put on a performance for the home crowd and each other as well," Rayasi told Sky Sport.
The Cane's faltered somewhat early in the second, before Rayasi and his fellow replacements closed the show in style.
"As a bench we want to come on and make an impact, make sure we are adding to the team performance and not dropping the standards."
Hurricane's captain Billy Proctor said it was the perfect response to last week's loss to the Brumbies.
"We didn't perform they way we wanted (in Canberra) but I think we came out tonight and started the game really strong which went a long way to winning it."
He conceded it wasn't a flawless performance and they left plenty of points on the park.
"At times we were a little bit sloppy, it could've been a different scoreline if we were a bit smarter around that sort of stuff."
He said there was now plenty of competition for places in the squad.
"A lot of the boys who haven't been playing got opportunities tonight, and put out a good performance I feel bad for Clarkey (Coach Clark Laidlaw) because he has a bit of a job to do now doesn't he?"
It didn't take long for the Canes to make their mark, as strong line break from Peter Lakai setting his side on attack.
The hosts would knock on, but send a statement at the scrum, forcing a tighthead as Braden Iose set off to the blind side.
He found his fullback Ruben Love who in turn flicked it on to Proctor to open the scoring.
An extended onslaught soon after eventually saw the Waratah's crack again, with Brett Cameron cruising over the chalk.
Love set things alight again from the back, a dazzling run sending the Waratahs scrambling before hooker Kianu Kereru-Symes popped it inside to Josh Moorby to make it 21-0 after just 18 minutes.
Another jinking Love run led to a Devan Flanders linebreak, he in turn popped it inside to Moorby who sent Iose over for the Cane's fourth.
The visitors did get a chance for some points as the siren sounded, but Hunter Ward spilt it to send the sides to the sheds at 26-0.
It was a slightly sloppy start to the second for the Hurricanes, eventually stringing 10 phases together inside the Tah's 22 before the error came right on the line.
Another try went begging shortly after, as Ben Grant charged down Jack Grant's box kick and scored, only for replays to show a slight knock on in the deflection.
With the momentum stalling, replacement Du'Plessis Kirifi kickstarted things with a turnover and then a powerful surge into the 22 as the Hurricanes recycled quickly to send Salesi Rayasi over for the first try of the second half.
It took till the 65th minute, but the Waratahs finally got on the board through a deft offload from Tane Edmund putting debutant Vuate Karawalevu through a gaping as he strode away to score.
Rayasi went back to back in spectacular fashion, first his break putting his side on the front foot, before he was put one on one with Karawalevu, skinned him on the outside and scored with a stunning acrobatic dive in the corner.
The Waratahs did pick up a late consolation try through lock Hugh Sinclair while the Cane's capped the victory with Perenara's record extending try, sneaking over from the base of a ruck.
Scorers:
Hurricanes 41 (Rayasi 2, Proctor, Cameron, Iose, Moorby, Perenara, tries, Cameron 3 cons)
Waratahs 12 (Karawalevu, Sinclair tries, Edmund 1 con)
2024-05-03T09:15:54Z dg43tfdfdgfd