The Wellington Hurricanes finally produced a performance they had been promising all season by running in eight tries to thrash the ACT Brumbies 56-7 and move to the top of the Super 14 table.
The Hurricanes, who are laden with All Blacks from the front row to fullback, had appeared to be stumbling through yet another season of failing to realise their full potential before Saturday’s performance on Anzac Day.
Their backline ran in six of the eight tries, with winger David Smith and All Blacks Ma’a Nonu and Cory Jane producing several tackle-breaking bursts that kept the aggressive pack on the front foot the entire game. ”I don’t think we’ve been that far off [in previous games],” centre Conrad Smith told Radio New Zealand. ”Tonight, passes stuck, we held on to the ball better.
”It was nice to finally get a game like that under our belt.”
The Hurricanes’ victory was the only bright note for New Zealand teams, who had threatened to seize the competition by the scruff of the neck last week in the jockeying for semifinal positions.
The Wellington-based side (34 points) retained their lead when fellow New Zealanders the Waikato Chiefs were beaten 33-27 by a Bulls side that were intent on shaking out all of the kinks from their five-week road trip where they won just two games.
The Bulls (33) leapfrogged the Chiefs (32) into second place, with the Sharks remaining in fourth on 31, despite having the bye this week.
The Hurricanes play the Chiefs in Hamilton in the penultimate week, while the Sharks host the Bulls in the final game of the round robin in what could be important matches in determining the semifinalists and home advantage in the play-offs.
Blackout blues
Auckland’s play-off hopes dimmed when they were beaten 31-24 by the lowly Queensland Reds after an electricity substation fault blacked out two of the four lighting towers at North Harbour Stadium.
The players were forced off for about 45 minutes until electricity was re-routed from another substation and the lights were powered back up.
The Reds then jumped out to a 31-5 lead after 50 minutes, and the final score flattered the Blues when Jimmy Gopperth converted his own try, and fourth for the team, after the full time hooter, which gave them two bonus points.
The Blues (30) are in fifth place and travel to meet the Hurricanes in Wellington next week.
The champion Canterbury Crusaders had their four-match winning streak snapped when a late Hennie Daniller try helped the last-placed Cheetahs to a 20-13 victory in Bloemfontein.
The victory was the Cheetahs’ second in the 2009 competition. They also beat the pre-tournament favourites the Sharks 31-6 two weeks ago.
The Otago Highlanders (23) virtually had their semifinal hopes dashed when they lost 18-11 to the Stormers, while the Western Force (28) ran riot to thump the Lions 55-14 in Perth on Friday.
Both South African sides are out of semifinal contention. – Reuters