Hurricanes blow away the Reds in 2nd Half
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The Super14 challenge from the Hurricanes is alive and well!!
A stunning second-half blitz gave the Hurricanes a 44-21 win that kept alive the Wellington outfit’s Super 14 play-off hopes while severely denting the Reds’ finals dream on Friday night.
A Hosea Gear hat-trick helped the Hurricanes leapfrog the Reds into the top four as the hosts laid on 31 unanswered points in the second half. Both teams elected to attack at every opportunity but ultimately the Reds’ failure to get even a bonus point out of the match could mark a disappointing end to a glittering campaign.
The Hurricanes launched out of the blocks as Gear tip-toed down the left touchline before feeding it inside for Cory Jane to cross, and Piri Weepu’s penalty created an early 8-0 lead.
Quade Cooper and Will Genia then showed why they have been hailed as the competition’s premier 9-10 partnership to set up a try for Scott Higginbotham. Cooper took a midfield bomb in an overhead Aussie Rules style and Genia then launched a scything run through the defence and showed great vision to spot the flanker’s run up the inside.
Exciting tries to speedy back Rod Davies and Will Chambers followed as Genia and Cooper helped the Reds cut the Hurricanes’ line to shreds, but Gear and Jane continued their own double act after the half time siren, Gear crossing this time from Jane’s assist to make it 21-13 at the break.
A yellow card to Reds flanker Andrew Shaw 30 seconds into the second half saw the Hurricanes regain the lead with two tries during their one-man advantage. First Gear grabbed his second after the Reds had defended resolutely on their line and then failed to kick clear, and then Tamati Ellison got on the end of a nice move involving Jane that came after a Michael Paterson intercept.
The home side’s momentum continued as Gear completed his hat-trick down the Reds’ problematic right-hand-side and a Weepu penalty with 11 minutes remaining took the lead beyond the crucial 14-point mark. The Reds kept attacking in search of a crucial four-try bonus point but only went backwards, and David Smith scored with an assist from Weepu that helped the scrum-half stake a serious claim for the All Blacks’ No.9 jersey.
[Info from Scrum.com]
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