OWN CORRESPONDENT, Palmerston North | Saturday 11.00am.
FORMER England prop Kevin Yates was sent off 10 minutes from the end but the Wellington Hurricanes clung on to beat the Cats 29-23 in Saturday’s Super 12 clash.
Yates was ordered off in the 70th minute by Australian referee Wayne Erickson after he punched Cats hooker Leon Boshof in retaliation.
His expulsion made the pressure on the Hurricanes, who had led 29-13 at halftime, doubly hard but they held on against waves of South African attacks.
Flyhalf Louis Koen opened the scoring for the Cats in the 12th minute when he touched down at the end of a prolonged attack and then converted his own try.
Daryl Lilley reduced the arrears with a 15th-minute penalty but Koen made it 10-3 with a penalty three minutes later.
In the 21st minute the Hurricanes were finally able to make headway in the Cats half and Alama Ieremia put Jason O’Halloran in for a try with a neat grubber kick. Lilley converted.
Koen put the Cats 13-10 ahead with a penalty before the Hurricanes took advantage of lost possession to score three tries in quick succession before the break.
Tana Umaga, back after a week’s suspension for being sent off against the Highlanders, received a pass from Christian Cullen and ran in to score. Lilley converted.
Two minutes later Cullen scored after a great exchange of passes also involving Umaga and Lilley. Lilley converted. Umaga then claimed his second try, receiving a long pass from Cullen and running 40 metres to score in the corner. The Cats, having had most of the possession, were suddenly 16 points adrift at 29-13.
Koen kicked a penalty early in the second half to reduce the deficit and Williams tapped a penalty on the Hurricanes’ 25-metre mark and jinked his way over for the try.
Koen converted and the Cats were back in touch but the Hurricanes held out. — Reuters