Super Rugby Aotearoa: Hurricanes keep title hopes alive as Chiefs' winless campaign comes to an end
The Hurricanes have lived to fight another day as they secured a bonus point victory over the Chiefs in Wellington to keep their Super Rugby Aotearoa title aspirations alive.
Led by an impressive Peter Umaga-Jensen from the midfield, the hosts had to weather a first half yellow card to Kobus van Wyk, with Jordie Barrett in danger of following him to the sin bin after flipping Sean Wainui in a tackle early in the second half.
Unlike Van Wyk’s judo flip-like cleanout of Brad Weber, Barrett wasn’t sanctioned when the TMO deemed Wainui to have jumped into contact.
Aside from those disciplinary concerns, the Hurricanes looked in control for the majority of the contest, although the Chiefs were presented with the first opportunity to take the lead.
Kicking from a distance of 45 metres out, Chiefs fullback Damian McKenzie was desperately close to strike the crossbar in just the third minute, and the Hurricanes made him pay not long afterwards.
Building nicely from an attacking lineout just three minutes later, the pressure applied by the home side’s ball carriers proved too much for the Chiefs to handle, with a flat pass delivered by TJ Perenara on the opposition try line enough for Umaga-Jensen to cash in on.
Anton Lienert-Brown and Alex Nankivell were no match for the 22-year-old powerhouse, who split the pair through the middle to crash under the posts.
He doubled down on his try-scoring exploits 20 minutes later after putting Wes Goosen into space on the left wing, only to receive a wonderful offload back in-field as the electric winger looked destined for the sideline.
That added salt into the Chiefs’ wounds as just moments beforehand, inspirational skipper Sam Cane had been taken from the field with a worrying head injury after colliding with Jordie Barrett.
Having broken his neck while playing for the All Blacks against South Africa two years ago, there were valid concerns about Cane’s well-being, but the 28-year-old somewhat eased those anxieties when he walked from the field without assistance.
The first few minutes of the second half saw Sean Wainui cross the chalk after being put in acres of space on the left wing from a set move.
Julian Savea savoured his first match back on New Zealand soil for two years and admits he faces a dilemma about which provincial team to represent in this year's Mitre 10 Cup.https://t.co/CD1XTO397r
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 8, 2020
That try was cancelled out not long afterwards, though, with Dane Coles finishing off a sweeping Hurricanes counter-attack sparked by TJ Perenara to put Jason Holland’s side within reach of the elusive bonus point zone.
It took just seven more minutes for the Hurricanes to hit that mark when Van Wyk pranced over untouched from a Hurricanes lineout to give his side a 24-13 lead.
The Chiefs’ never-say-die attitude kept them in the hunt for their first win of the campaign, though, and the Hamiltonians made their intentions clear when reserve hooker Bradley Slater bundled over the line from the back of the rolling maul with 15 minutes to play.
That put the Hurricanes under the pump to find one last try to continue to make themselves a nuisance for the league-leading Crusaders and Blues, but the fresh legs of the bench were enough to get them over the line.
The energy and sharpness provided by reserve halfback Jamie Booth was enough to splinter a stagnant Chiefs defensive line, and some good support by back-up midfielder Billy Proctor enabled the 21-year-old stroll over for his team’s fifth try.
Comparatively, there was little fight left in the legs of the visitors, who were kept on the back foot for the remainder of the contest before the hosts rounded the game out to the cheers of the 21,000-strong home crowd.
The result leaves the Hurricanes just three points adrift from the top-of-the-table Crusaders with one round to play, but the reigning Super Rugby champions can seal the title on Sunday when they host the Highlanders in Christchurch.
As for the Chiefs, this match caps off a disastrous Super Rugby Aotearoa season without a win from eight attempts.
With no match awaiting them in the final round of the league, the Waikato franchise will take some hard lessons with them into the off-season as they look to return to the Super Rugby fold next year under the guidance of temporary boss Clayton McMillan.
Hurricanes 31 (Tries to Peter Umaga-Jensen (2), Dane Coles, Kobus van Wyk, Billy Proctor; 2 conversions to Jordie Barrett; yellow card to Van Wyk)
Chiefs 18 (Tries to Sean Wainui and Bradley Slater; conversion and 2 penalties to Damian McKenzie)
Comments on RugbyPass
This 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….
12 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….
77 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!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
12 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
12 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.
12 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
12 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
12 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
12 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI 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?
3 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 comments