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Hurricanes vs Chiefs: A front row bolter, Canes on the rise
By Ned Lester
The top of the table Chiefs have suffered another hit in Wellington at the hands of the Hurricanes, falling 35-17 in a result that sent a warning shot through Super Rugby Pacific.
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After beating the Brumbies in Canberra in round 11, the Hurricanes have backed up that effort and taken a step towards solidifying a playoff spot in front of a joyous home crowd.
The hosts found themselves trailing by six points at the break, but even against a team that loves second-half splurges, they were able to come back with 24 unanswered points.
Here are some takeaways from the contest.
A front row bolter
With Ofa Tu’ungafasi facing an uncertain timeline in his return from a neck injury, there’s an opportunity for a Kiwi prop to earn higher honours in 2025.
Tevita Mafileo has taken the starting spot from Xavier Numia in the Hurricanes front row, largely thanks to powerful scrummaging as well as consistent contributions around the park.
Against the Chiefs, the most efficient scrum in the comp, even when Tyrel Lomax was put under pressure, Mafileo was rock solid, refusing to be moved.
It was more of the same last week when the 27-year-old lined up opposite Wallaby veteran Allan Alaalatoa.
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Adding to his credentials in Saturday’s win was a breakdown steal and nine tackles, one dominant, without a miss.
Capable of playing on both sides of the scrum, the 125 kg front rower began the season in the No. 3 jersey as Lomax recovered from injury, only recently returning to the loosehead side of the bench against the Western Force.
While it was his loosehead running mate, Xavier Numia, who was selected for the All Blacks XV in 2024, Mafileo represented the team in 2022 and was selected again in 2023 before a call-up to the All Blacks as injury cover.
Ruben Love offers rocks and diamonds
Ruben Love has all the talent and skills in the world to thrive at first five-eighth, and was mostly brilliant tonight in Wellington.
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His kicking off the tee was excellent, his decisiveness and explosiveness largely kept the defence honest, and his playmaking had moments of real promise. Love was one of the numerous backs who put boot to ball in search of space behind the Chiefs’ line, and found it.
Where the performance was lacking was in his reading of the defensive line. As the Chiefs closed the gap with brisk line speed, too often Love picked out his next runner irrespective of where the defence was, and got his side caught well behind the gain line as a result.
Having endured a slow start to the season at fullback, Love looks to have found his feet and some form at 10, but whether the showings over the last three weeks have been enough to keep him there when Harry Godfrey and potentially even Brett Cameron return remains to be seen.
Perhaps if Scott Robertson likes what he’s seeing, there could be a message sent down to Hurricanes HQ to keep the experiment going. The black 10 jersey was revealed to be Love’s ultimate ambition last year by Canes assistant coach Cory Jane.
Canes on the rise
The Hurricanes are starting to show some of the form that earned them the top seed a season ago, and it must be said that the newfound momentum has coincided with the return of a dynamic midfield duo.
Riley Higgins and Billy Proctor have managed a perfectly synchronised return from injury, and their injection into the 12 and 13 jerseys has proven a powerful enabling force for the Hurricanes’ talent.
Since the pair have been back in the fold for Clark Laidlaw, the Hurricanes’ chemistry as a team has turned a dramatic corner, with the simple errors and mistimed plays that plagued them just a month ago now seemingly a thing of the past.
One of the best players for the Hurricanes this season, Bailyn Sullivan, thrived in Proctor’s absence, but the All Black has shown his class by taking his team to another level, even when replacing such an in-form talent.
Sullivan came into this contest on the right wing after a serious-looking, non-contact injury to Kini Naholo, scoring four tries to show his form isn’t going anywhere, even if he doesn’t own the No. 13 jersey.
Callum Harkin has also shown real signs of growth in his rookie season with the team, providing moments of magic with supreme pace, breaking the line in consecutive games.
The team opted to take the points on offer early, keeping scoreboard pressure on the Chiefs, a tactic that kept them in the game enough at halftime to come out of the gates confident.
Lastly, the Hurricanes made life very difficult for the Chiefs by conceding just five penalties in the game, offering very few opportunities to a dangerous team with the ball in hand. The Hurricanes average nine penalties per game, the fifth-best mark this season.
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I’ve been singing Mafileo’s praises for some time. His scrummaging on both sides has always been top-drawer, but now we’re seeing the benefit of his being match fit. He’s now a real presence around the park on attack and defence, has good hands and good rugby nous about where to be. Having said that, I think his competition in the race to replace Ofa at loose head was also on the park - Ollie Norris was giving Lomax, the best tight-head in the world, plenty of curry.
Might need to spend some time in the ABs XV before going to the All Blacks. I think he’s got a little too much competition in the All Blacks with Tamaiti Williams, Ethan de Groot, and Ofa Tuungafaasi. I thought Ofa has been pretty good lately, despite limited field appearances.
Ollie Norris I think was on the last ABs XV tour, but there is still competition in that team as well at prop. Numia, Fusitua, and Bower are all sure to make it difficult for him to get game time.
As a canes fan it was sensational to watch. As an ABs fan it was concerning. Jacobson, Finau and Vaai all largely invisible. Some believe Tupaea should be the ABs starting 12. The commentators barely mentioned his name. There was discussion before the match as to who is the better halfback. Ratima isn’t in the same class as Roigaard.
Largely invisible? What do you call Kirifi, Lakai, and Iose’s effots then!!?!
Tupaea was also everywhere, what game were you even watching? LOL OK mr Canes fanboy.
Deserved winners.