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Hurricanes player ratings vs Chiefs | Super Rugby Aotearoa
As so often has been the case in Super Rugby Aotearoa this year it was Damian McKenzie who provided the final touch of brilliance to see the Chiefs narrowly escape upset against a gutsy Hurricanes.
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The visitors produced a display built on tenacity and nerve and blew the Chiefs away in the first ten with slick offloading leading to a James Blackwell try.
Despite the dominance of the heavier Chiefs pack at scrum time, the Canes hung on throughout and even took the lead with ten to go.
It was not to be, however, and right on schedule up popped McKenzie to slot the game winner from 45 metres out and break Hurricanes hearts.
1. XAVIER NUMIA – 5
Struggled against a staunch Chiefs scrum and was schooled somewhat by Ta’avao. Did show glimpses of the exceptional pace he possesses to scramble back in defence but in his haste conceded a penalty early on in the second half for offside leading to a defensive scrum five. Went off for blood on 47 minutes, came back and played a further seven minutes before being replaced on 64 by Rakere-Stones.
2. DANE COLES (c) – 6
Fairly quiet day for the Hurricanes captain who recently locked in his future with the Wellington franchise for two more years. Threw efficiently at lineout time and was an energetic presence in the first ten minutes, the best period of play for the Canes, but maybe lacked the spark that has come to be expected from him. Off at 54 for Aumua.
3. TYREL LOMAX – 5
Showed real deftness in his handling to tip on to Blackwell for the Canes’ early try but went on to endure a torrid time of it in the scrums against a pumped up and dangerously in form Aidan Ross. Off after 64 for Fidow.
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4. JAMES BLACKWELL – 5
There is no sight in rugby quite like a lock at full chat twenty metres out from the opposition try line. Hit a fantastic line off Lomax to charge in and produced a fairly outrageous step to evade three tacklers and dot down. Fairly efficient from then on in at lineout time but replaced early after 49 minutes.
5. SCOTT SCRAFTON – 5
Worked in his pods and warmed the hands with a handful of passes. Ensured 100 per cent success for the Canes at lineout time and disruptive at the Chiefs lineout. Had the legs and doggedness to play 70 minutes for Liam Mitchell.
6. REED PRINSEP – 5
Shared the back-row responsibilities, complementing Kirifi well and filling in on the rare occasions his teammate was absent from a ruck. Not afraid to put in the hard yards as well making ten tackles and being the defensive leader for the Canes against an opposition packed with talent. Quite poor use of his captain’s referral on essentially a textbook clear-out on Love.
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7. DU’PLESSIS KIRIFI – 7
The undeniable work horse of this Hurricanes team and leads from the front. Got through the most tackles for his side with 12 and has a dangerous talent for chopping players down like a tree surgeon. Gave away a vital penalty for holding on at 78 minutes turning the tide for the Chiefs and then conceded a knock on. Could have been referred for that infringement albeit in a position more challenging than McKenzie’s eventual game winner.
8. DEVAN FLANDERS – 7
Clever offloading in the lead up to Blackwell’s try. Made a barnstorming break on 50 minutes as the Hurricanes looked to take the game to the Chiefs and followed it up shortly after with a no look league-esc offload to put Proctor in close to the sticks. Made the most metres of his forward pack.
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9. LUKE CAMPBELL – 6
A busy defensive performance from the 26-year-old, tackling well and covering his wingers. Distributed well but unable to match his defensive energy in attack. On the night outclassed by Weber. Off at 71.
10. RUBEN LOVE – 5
A night of ups and downs for the youngster. Covered the Chiefs’ deep kicks very well in the backfield and looked most comfortable when Barrett was with him to help out if needed. At moments his lack of experience was perhaps on show, not finding touch with several kicks and rushing out and crucially missing Gatland leading to the Chiefs second try.
11. SALESI RAYASI – 7
Played with freedom and optimised the Hurricanes attitude towards the game on the night. Showed pace, strength and skill in equal measure. Second only to Barrett in terms of defenders beaten and overall metres made. Shut down by tough Chiefs defence.
12. NGANI LAUMAPE – 5
A relatively quiet performance by his standards, defensively sound but perhaps unable to produce the magic line-busting moments he is capable of that can change games. Had several runs but wasn’t afforded much in the way of gains.
13. PETER UMAGA-JENSEN – 6
The defensive general of the Hurricanes midfield leading the energy in their defensive press. Did well in fronting up to the considerable challenge posed by Lienert-Brown put much like his centre partner was unable to produce much with ball in hand.
14. WES GOOSEN – 5
Had a tough day at the office defending against the truly electric Nanai-Seturo. Was gutsy defensively but missed the most tackles for the Canes on the night and couldn’t seem to buy a way past the Chiefs defence. Made way for Proctor on 49 minutes.
15. JORDIE BARRETT – 5
The barometer of this Canes team. When he’s on, the whole team is on. Once again showed he can be a genuine weapon for the All Blacks slotting another long-distance penalty. Will make for an interesting selection headache for Foster at 15 come June. Made double the metres of the next highest performer and was perfect off the tee. At times pulls this team by the scruff of its neck towards competing. Classy touch to admit his knock on and spare the inevitable barrage of TMO reviews.
Damian McKenzie has handed the Chiefs yet another last-gasp win. Here's how they rated in their latest win over the Hurricanes. #SuperRugbyAotearoa #CHIvHUR https://t.co/5fEuTBioI1
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 23, 2021
REPLACEMENTS:
16. ASAFO AUMUA – 7
A cannonball of a man, instantly provided grunt off the back off the Hurricanes lineout scoring on 68 minutes, just five minutes after coming on. Possesses the guile and sheer explosiveness to make the Hurricanes lineout a real weapon and shows real intelligence in choosing his moment to power over.
17. POURI RAKERE-STONES
Replaced Numia on 64 minutes. Went about his work making his tackles but served no better than his teammate at scrum time. Conceded a penalty for being in front of the kicker perhaps harshly but such ‘harmless’ penalties are becoming common and was the theme of this defeat.
18. ALEX FIDOW – N/A
Introduced at 64 minutes but unable to make real impact with only one run.
19. ISAIA WALKER-LEAWERE – 6
On at 49 mins. Huge turnover on his own 20m in the last 5 minutes with the pressure on and made good metres with ball in hands. Didn’t offer much difference ultimately.
20. LIAM MITCHELL – N/A
On at 70 mins.
21. BRAYDEN lOSE – N/A
On at 73 minutes. Had a couple of runs but unable to close out the game.
22. CAM ROIGARD – N/A
On at 70 for Campbell into the thick of an intense battle.
23. BILLY PROCTOR – 7
Showed dynamic running and rewarded with a try. Also featured as an effective kicking option. Made an important interception on 75 minutes but fared no better in his defence of Nanai-Seturo.
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
17 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
17 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
17 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
17 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
17 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
17 Go to comments