Topsy-turvy clash: James Kamana get airborne
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A 79th-minute penalty saw the Hurricanes grab their first win of the Super Rugby season as they edged the Lions 30-28 in Johannesburg on Friday.
A topsy-turvy encounter full of positive intent and running rugby from both sides saw the lead change hands no less than eight times.
The first 40 minutes of a highly-entertaining clash ended with the Hurricanes 14-8 ahead.
The Lions overturned a nine-point deficit on the hour mark to lead by a single point with ten minutes left on the clock, but the dying moments saw Butch James turn from hero to villain as he gave away a penalty just minutes after scoring what looked to have been the winning try.
The Lions have become masters of providing the Ellis Park crowd with tight finishes and the home side will rue a number of missed chances that could well have handed them a second win in as many weeks.
The hosts had hoped to ply the pressure at scrum time but uncontested scrums from late in the first half due to injuries to the Lions props (JC Janse van Rensburg and CJ van der Linde) allowed the Hurricanes the ideal platform to attack.
Beauden Barrett opened the scoring for the Hurricanes from the kicking tee but the Lions were first to cross the whitewash when Jaco Taute found his way into the corner and the TMO gave his effort the rubber stamp.
Barrett handed the advantage back to the visitors only for Taute to reply by finding the target with a long-range penalty to put the Lions back in front.
The closing minutes of the half belonged to the Hurricanes however as the visitors grabbed the opportunity afforded by the uncontested scrums and increased their lead to six points just before the break thanks to an excellent finish in the corner by full-back Andre Taylor.
Elton Jantjies and Barrett exchanged penalties early in the second half to leave the status quo but the Lions were next to cross the chalk as Franco van der Merwe crashed over from short range.
Jantjies made no mistake with the easy conversion to put the Lions back in front by a single point at 18-17.
But the reply from the 'Canes was almost immediate as Conrad Smith showed some neat soccer skills with a ball spilt by the Lions to set up speeding hooker Dane Coles.
Just two minutes later Cory Jane was also over in the corner after chasing Barrett's chip ahead. The visiting fly-half missed both conversions but the Lions had nevertheless seen their lead turn into a nine-point deficit in less than five minutes.
Jantjies put the Lions back within striking distance with his second penalty before James muscled his way past two defenders to score.
The conversion put the Lions 28-27 up but the 'Canes would have the last laugh, building steadily with their forwards through 18 phases until finally winning the penalty for off-side in front of the sticks.
20-year-old Barrett made amends for his earlier misses to give Mark Hammett's team their first win of the campaign.
The scorers:
For Lions:
Tries: Taute, Van der Merwe, James
Cons: Jantjies 2
Pens: Taute, Jantjies 2
For Hurricanes:
Tries: Taylor, Coles, Jane
Pens: Barrett 5
Lions: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon Van Rensburg, 13 Doppies La Grange, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Joshua Strauss (c), 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco Van der Merwe, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Hendrik Roodt, 19 Cobus Grobbleaar, 20 Tian Meyer, 21 Butch James, 22 James Kamana.
Hurricanes: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (c), 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Chris Eaton, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tristan Moran.
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Brad Shields, 20 TJ Perenara, 21 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 22 Charlie Ngatai.
Referee: Steve Walsh
Comments
Ramage says...
@carpelone I too was in despair with what hammett did to the hurricanes and in some way would be pleased to see them bottom of the NZ conference and the bungling Hurricanes board who appointed Hammet before his time have to eat humble pie by sacking him. however it will be interesting to see if it is I who have to eat that pie as two out of three isn't too bad. Though the Force is so bad this year and the Lions look still to be also rans with the ability to take the odd team.
Barrett is a talented young player and comes from Taranaki current Ranfurly Shield holders he is also the son of a non compromising former Taranaki forward.
I too am no lover of the conference system which is there as a sop for Australia who can not mount their own National Competition and are using this system as a means to advance their own development. However when one sees the number of overseas players they have been recruiting and the fact that most of their teams hover at the bottom of the Super Competition one is left wondering. Any competition where teams do not play two other teams in the competition is somewhat suspect.
Posted 03:11 11th March 2012
Carpelone says...
Ramage.
I was a bit angry with the Canes management who truly mobbed so many talented players out of the team.
Everybody who played rugby knows that you can lose to any team. I am curious to follow the progress of this new guy, Barrett.
Let's see how the tournement develops, even though I would wait for round 4 or even 5 to make any judgements.
Posted 15:52 05th March 2012
Carpelone says...
Trinats.
Good to hear from you again.
I was not referring to the Reds last year. They won it and deserved it, and I even enjoy the rugby they played.
My reasoning was more general. Objectively, the Australian Conference is weaker than SA's and NZ's ones. This would give an advantage to the Reds this year too.
Am I right or did I get the cumbersome conference arrangement wrong? This could happen this year with the Australian Conference and next years with SA's or NZ's conference. I don't like it, I would prefer to less games scheduled. Can I have your wise word on that?
Posted 15:47 05th March 2012
Ramage says...
@ Carpelone how can you in deed but there it is you did. However I believe you will have real cause for concern if you lose to the Force, Brumbies and Rabbles.
Posted 11:52 03rd March 2012
carpelone says...
However, that's how the first rounds of Super Rugby goes. A bit of entertainment, a bit of disappointment for trivial loss, the usual donkey's race by the minnows (see the Highlanders), mistakes from one side to the other.
Could somebody please convince me that the current SR's format is not that b@#?%$£t which I think, with at the end, an average Oz's side topping the table just becuase the other teams in their conference are crap??
Posted 08:25 03rd March 2012
melkdave says...
Well an exciting game to watch if your neutral like me .I feel that both sides played mot to lose rather than to win it .But the canes in the end i think just about deserved the win .Have to agree on the uncontested scrums though that would have made the game alot differant imo
Posted 03:22 03rd March 2012
sandal says...
@NHsaints
Last year when Mark Hammett was busy disencumbering himself of All Blacks one or two people here (not me, as I knew little about him) suggested that Barrett was a star prospect and Canes fans shouldn't worry about the loss of Cruden. (But look how Cruden continues to play ... )
@Carpelone
It's not you who was gutted, but the Hurricanes.
At least the Canes are showing a lot of character in the face of the odds. I guess these young players, never-weres and cast-offs are determined to prove the doom mongers such as myself wrong. Good on them. They'll be well pleased to come away from South Africa with some points.
Incidentally, doesn't Steve Walsh get around.
Posted 01:04 03rd March 2012
hayj05 says...
@NHsaints - Yes he has a great sense of composure & grit about him too. My guess would be he & Cruden willl be fighting for the future AB's 10 jersey although you can never really predict how players will step up to test match level.
Posted 23:04 02nd March 2012
Slord182 says...
As a lifelong lions fan this was almost the rugby I have come to expect from the joburg boys. I do say almost as it is far more positive play and generally better than past campaigns. However that said and done. This is a side that won the currie cup last year. albeit without all the books in the comp but when they did come back they showed they cold play against the best. I agree with Jaystars comment about them looking like they were playing not to lose. Too many silly mistakes. Have to pick up next week. This is a game they should've won and closed out early. All credit to the canes though but I can't help but feel the lions lost it rather than the canes won it. Another trait of the Lions I have come to expect over the years. I don't maybe Im biased.
Posted 20:40 02nd March 2012
NHsaints says...
Is anyone else noticing that Barrett is looking more capable and talented than Slade and Cruden? And he's very young too...future all blacks 10? We'll wait and see...
Posted 20:04 02nd March 2012
JayStarr says...
That was VERY disappointing from the Lions.
Sure, the uncontested scrums played right into the hands of the Hurricanes - because the Lions were dominating them in the scrums until then - but they still handed that game to them on a silver platter...
Dumb, dumb, dumb play - pushing passes when they REALLY should've held onto the ball; NOT passing when they REALLY should've; poor support play; lack of intensity at the breakdowns; indecision (especially by Bondisio); and frankly, just a general lack of fire in their belliesfor large parts of the game...
For most of the game they didn't look like a team who really wanted to win, they looked like a team who were trying not to lose.
The Hurricanes looked like a team who really wanted to win - and they did. Deservedly so in the end. Well done guys - unlike the Lions, you showed real character.
Hopefully the Lions can snap out of this lameness very quickly... Otherwise they'll just have a repeat of 2011 - lose by 1 point, lose by 2 points, so near yet so far...
WAKE UP!! Elton Jantjies, Jaco Taute, Alwyn Hollenbach and Josh Strauss can't win your games by themselves!
I'm expecting John Mitchell to make a few changes next week.
Posted 19:17 02nd March 2012
carpelone says...
Gutted. How can you lose to the Canes?
Posted 19:04 02nd March 2012