The Hurricanes held off New Zealand rivals the Highlanders 22-21 in Wellington on Friday to keep alive their faint hopes of reaching the Super 14 semifinals.
The teams scored two tries apiece, the last of which was by the Highlanders’ Toby Morland in the dying seconds, but flyhalf Nick Evans missed the conversion that would have given his side victory.
Following the exchange of early penalties, Wellington’s former New Zealand captain Tana Umaga was sin-binned for not releasing the ball.
Otago then claimed the opening try when Evans touched the ball down against a post and the video referee awarded the score.
Hurricanes flyhalf Jimmy Gopperth then hacked the ball through to score a try and further penalties by Hurricanes scrumhalf Piri Weepu and Evans left the hosts 17-13 ahead at half-time.
Wellington winger Hosea Gear burst free from a tackle to score a try soon after the interval, and after further penalties from Weepu and Evans the Hurricanes led 22-16 with 15 minutes left.
The Highlanders continued to press forward, however, and were rewarded when Evans sent replacement Morland scampering over the line, only for the flyhalf to fail to convert and hand victory to the Hurricanes. — Reuters