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Hurricanes dig deep to steer clear of the hard-charging Bulls
The Hurricanes will face the Crusaders in Christchurch next weekend in a Super Rugby semi-final after a 35-28 victory on Saturday over the Bulls which wasn’t without its difficulties despite a nightmarish recent travel scenario for the South Africans (writes Patrick McKendry of the New Zealand Herald).
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The Bulls travelled from Dunedin to Pretoria to Wellington over the past fortnight but put a huge amount of pressure on the Hurricanes, forcing them into defensive mistakes which they often impressively capitalised on.
Defending a seven-point advantage in the final minutes, the Hurricanes had to dig extremely deep to keep the hard-charging Bulls out at the end.
In the final two minutes, an Ardie Savea turnover thwarted a promising attack but the visitors got the ball back and it wasn’t over until 90 seconds after the final siren when wing Cornal Hendricks knocked it on in a mistake which shouldn’t tarnish his excellent overall performance.
The home side defended well in those moments but the earlier flaws will also be mercilessly punished by the defending champion Crusaders who romped to a fairly regulation victory over the Highlanders in their quarter-final.
Hurricanes v Bulls | Super Rugby 2019 Quarter Final 2 Highlights
The @Hurricanesrugby seal a semi-final spot after edging a brave @BlueBullsRugby side 35-28 in a thrilling contest in Wellington. #SuperRugby #HURvBUL #SR19Finals pic.twitter.com/LrkkGs0RcM— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) June 22, 2019
Replacement wing Salesi Rayasi is sure to be in the Crusaders’ headlights if he plays next weekend. Coming on for right wing Wes Goosen after Goosen appeared to strain a hamstring when putting TJ Perenara over the Hurricanes’ first try, Rayasi scored two tries but was too easily beaten on the right touchline for wing Hendricks’ first try.
In the second half, Rayasi gave up a penalty try when intentionally knocking on a pass as a last defender, earning himself a yellow card in the process and making this victory perhaps a little more difficult than it should have been for his side.
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Hendricks was a beneficiary of more ordinary defending for his second try when he stood up All Black Jordie Barrett to go over in the right corner.
. @natstorage | Next Stop: CHCH pic.twitter.com/bkRA4sPyUg
— Hurricanes Rugby (@Hurricanesrugby) June 22, 2019
The Bulls had an early lead but the Hurricanes were soon in control and never looked seriously threatened, although Hendricks’ second try put the Bulls to within four points with 20 minutes remaining before Jordie Barrett’s penalty, and the visitors’ defence was impressive in the final stages.
They were at their best when they were direct via their massive forwards or engaged in a set piece – success which will not have gone unnoticed by the Crusaders – but were a little fragile when the ball was put in behind them and for them to get a result at Westpac Stadium nearly everything needed to go right.
Their fitness held up well despite their recent travel but they made too many handling errors to maintain pressure, although their resilience was impressive; things didn’t always go to plan but they kept charging in, and, more importantly trying things.
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Half-back Perenara was an increasingly dominant figure for the Hurricanes, as was loose forward Savea, with Beauden Barrett having his moments. But midfielder Ngani Laumape, usually a big danger man for the Hurricanes, was kept quiet by the Bulls, who had a good performer in his opposite Jesse Kriel.
“It was great character from the boys – we had a long four-week tour here and then had one game back before coming here again,” Bulls first-five Handre Pollard said afterwards. “We let in a few soft tries but the fight from the boys was unbelievable.”
Hurricanes 35 (Salesi Rayasi 2, TJ Perenara, Ben Lam tries; Beauden Barrett pen, 3 cons, Jordie Barrett 2 pens)
Bulls 28 (Cornal Hendricks 2,Warrick Gelant tries, penalty try; Handre Pollard 3 cons)
WATCH: The Short Ball on why the Blues should focus on next season, not Beauden Barrett
Comments on RugbyPass
I really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to comments