Late try: Alapati Leiua
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The Hurricanes picked up their first victory of the Super Rugby season after coming from behind to beat the Crusaders 29-28 at Westpac Stadium.
It had looked like being the Canterbury side's day when Dan Carter converted his own try on the hour, making it 19-28. But an intercept try from Alapati Leiua and the boot of Beauden Barrett edged the 'Canes ahead with seven minutes left.
Victory moves the Hurricanes off the bottom of the New Zealand conference, with the Highlanders now occupying the basement spot ahead of their home fixture with the Cheetahs on Saturday.
The star player for the Hurricanes was Julian Savea, whose second-half try saw him bump off Tom Marshall before Israel Dagg was on the receiving end of a Jonah Lomu-Mike Catt-esque score. Meanwhile, Barrett was faultless with the boot as he knocked over seven kicks from seven.
However, it was the Crusaders who began the game the stronger when inside centre Ryan Crotty skipped through three tacklers from 25 metres out to make it 3-7 with Carter's successful conversion after Barrett had earlier opened the scoring.
The 'Canes, who looked to be struggling early on, found their feet though and a further three penalty goals from their fly-half pushed them into a 12-7 advantage going into half-time.
Upon the turnaround things came to life as first Corey Flynn barged his way over to edge the Crusaders back in front before Dagg's long-range score extended the lead. That preceded Savea's moment of magic though in a spell that brought the Westpac Stadium to its feet.
It was now 19-21 to the Crusaders with 55 minutes played and when Carter hacked the ball into the in-goal area before grounding, the lead looked comfortable for the visitors at 19-28.
But never write off these Hurricanes - as they showed in 2012 - with replacement Adam Whitelock's wayward pass close to halfway being snapped up by wing Alapati Leiua who raced under the posts. The successful conversion made it 29-28 which was how the game ended following an intelligent finish from the home side. The Crusaders are now 0 from 2.
The scorers:
For Hurricanes:
Tries: Savea, Leiua
Con: Barrett 2
Pen: Barrett 5
For Crusaders:
Tries: Crotty, Flynn, Dagg, Carter
Con: Carter 4
The teams:
Hurricanes: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Conrad Smith (c), 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Karl Lowe, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Ben May, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 James Marshall, 22 Reynold Lee-Lo.
Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Tom Marshall, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Johnny McNicholl, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 George Whitelock, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Tom Donnelly, 19 Luke Whitelock, 20 Willi Heinz, 21 Tom Taylor, 22 Adam Whitelock.
Date: Friday, March 8
Kick-off: 19:35 (06:35 GMT)
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Referee: Andrew Lees (Australia)
Assistant referees: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand), Shane McDermott (New Zealand)
Television match official: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
Comments
ferdie says...
no national pride here, this may be the only weekend I get to say this - Hurricanes! - and well I'm so sorry the other NZ teams Highlanders Chiefs Blues had to lose.
Keeps us in the comp.
It's a cut-throat world.
Posted 10:52 10th March 2013
ferdie says...
kybone - yes every team gets 4 points for their bye week, so essentially it means nothing as each team gets the same number of byes through the season. Table is unusual to start with this season as Crusaders have only played two matches while some of the Oz teams - 4 of the 5 - started a week early and have played four matches.
It'll all even out.
Posted 06:13 09th March 2013
ben7 says...
Damn what a good game! Don't think either of these teams will win the competition, but still, what a great advert for super rugby, especially the 2nd half.
Savea looked like a little Lomu! Barging over Dagg like Mike Catt
Posted 20:19 08th March 2013
kybone says...
I've just looked at the tables to find that the Crusaders have 0 wins, 0 draws, 2 defeats, and 2 bonus points, yet they have 6 points in total! I then looked further and found that somehow the Brmbies have picked up 5 bonus points in 2 games!, whilst i think the Kings and the Highlanders have 4 BP's from 1 game? Is this something to do with the bye weeks that teams have? I've never noticed it before. Whats the point?
Posted 18:54 08th March 2013
three6three6 says...
The Crusaders may have lost this one.... but they still pick up two points.... two bonus points! But by all accounts Savea is playing very well indeed!
Posted 16:40 08th March 2013
JayStarr says...
Sombody get a fire extinguisher - Julian Savea is on fire !!
Posted 16:00 08th March 2013
passtheball says...
Good to see a ref finally nailing the Crusaders for their continual offences at the breakdown, especially when in the red zone - well, until half time anyway and then the penalty count dropped dramatically. Hard to see why. New refs and Ritchie McCaw missing may be the key here to this new attitude from the refs - it will put the Crusaders under more pressure if it continues. All the NZ teams will be hard to beat this year and the rugby is good, regardless of the errors.
Posted 14:20 08th March 2013
davodiablo says...
@ Carpelone . 8 am start means I always miss the second half and the crucial action . Then the clocks will move and ill get nothing . I'd rather these games on a sat .
Posted 12:32 08th March 2013
Terry_English says...
Great game but not very Crusader-like to throw a loose pass to gift 7 points.
I have been very dissapointed by the standard of refereeing this year. Close games can be determined by the competence of the referee and a 10-4 penalty count in favour of the Hurricanes was a little out.
Posted 11:48 08th March 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
argh! the perils of messing around on rugby websites when you've recorded a rugby match to watch in the evening. Luckily I do have the England U20's vs Italy U20's as a back up. (although lets face it, its not hard to pick a winner, which is why I'd preferred to be watching this match.)
The Crusaders will be pissed. two losses already. Plenty of time to sort it out though.
Posted 11:25 08th March 2013
carpelone says...
I think the decision to have a New Zealand game on Friday is genial.
For me, it is breakfast rugby then office. Keep it going if possible.
Posted 09:54 08th March 2013
ABlack says...
both sides a bit better this week , still a long ay to go though.Lots of mistakes by both teams
Posted 09:17 08th March 2013