The Wellington Hurricanes overtook the Canterbury Crusaders as leaders of the Super 14 rugby competition on Friday by beating South Africa’s Sharks 23-17 to start off the seventh round.
The Crusaders had a bye as the regular season reached its halfway point. The Hurricanes took the opportunity to head the championship table by a point ahead of their sellout clash with the Crusaders in Wellington next weekend.
Samoan international winger Lome Fa’atau scored one try and set up another as the Hurricanes won a scrappy match played in heavy rain and strong wind, only five days after returning from a three-match road trip to South Africa.
Handling errors plagued both sides as they contended with wintry conditions and the Hurricanes’ ability to turn two half-chances into tries swung the match, narrowly, in their favour.
On two occasions misdirected kicks from the Hurricanes, which the Sharks allowed to bounce, fell into the hands of an attacking player and led to Wellington tries.
All Blacks flanker Chris Masoe scored the first, laid on by Fa’atau, and the winger was rewarded with the second, running off a pass from All Blacks lock Jason Eaton.
Flyhalf Jimmy Gopperth converted both tries and kicked three penalties — five successes from seven attempts in difficult conditions — to fill out the winning margin.
The Sharks also scored two tries, through 36-year-old lock Johan Ackermann — his first try in Super 12 or 14 rugby — and Gcobani Bobo, whose last-minute touchdown earned a bonus point.
”The boys had to work hard considering the conditions and the fact we’ve only just got back from South Africa,” said Hurricanes captain Rodney So’oialo. ”In these conditions you’ve got to keep the ball in hand and try to eliminate mistakes.
”In the end we knew that if we could keep it down in their half we had the defensive ability to put pressure on them, to turn the ball over and score some tries.”
Fa’atau set up the first try when he followed up Gopperth’s deep dropout from the 22-metre line, which the Sharks allowed to bounce.
So’oialo pounced on the loose ball, kicked on and Fa’atau used balance and athleticism to keep the ball in play, flinging an infield pass which sent Masoe on a tryline dash.
The Hurricanes’ second try also came from a kick left untended by the Sharks, which fell to Eaton who turned the ball infield to Fa’atau, the fastest man on the field, to score near the posts.
”We forgot the fundamental rule of rugby that every player ought to learn at primary school … don’t let the ball bounce,” said Sharks captain John Smit.
”It’s frustrating to lose another close game because in a couple of years no one remembers that you lost these games by only five or six points.” — Sapa-AP
Scores
Wellington 23 (Chris Masoe, Lome Fa’atau tries; Jimmy Gopperth 2 conversions, 3 penalties)
Sharks 17 (Johan Ackermann, Gcobani Bobo tries; Tony Brown 2 conversions, penalty).