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
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