'Canes wake up first in Canberra
Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:48
The Hurricanes ran in five tries to two against the Brumbies to claim a 33-15 victory in Canberra, moving up to second place on the log standings in the process.
The match took all of an hour to spring to life, before the Canes took control, and used their handling and running skills to good effect to record the win.
The match struggled into life in front of the Canberra crowd, as two teams fighting for consistency piled into this war off attrition. And it was as ugly in that first period, and pretty unattractive as a spectacle.
The pattern for the first half was established very early on in this encounter. Both teams were guilty of poor handling, poor kicking and poor decision-making. The forwards were as culpable as the backs, as line-outs were lost, and turnovers accrued at a rapid rate.
Both backlines lacked imagination and vigour, and were content to just kick the ball aimlessly downfield, and put the onus onto their opponents to do the thinking.
To be honest, the rugby was rather poor in that first period.
Nonetheless, Brumbies fullback Mark Gerrard opened the scoring with a penalty conversion in the seventh minute.
Not long after, 'Canes centre Tamati Ellison coat-hangered one of the Brumbies, a blatant offence in full view of everyone. Referee Willie Roos consulted his touch judge, and Ellison received a deserved yellow card.
But the Brumbies could not take advantage of their 10 minutes of numerical superiority, as the sloppiness continued.
The goal-kicking matched the general play in quality, as both Gerrard and Gopperth missed goalable attempts at the posts.
It was only on the half-hour mark that the home crowd finally saw the ball move into space at speed. Unfortunately for them, it resulted in a try by Hurricanes wing Shannon Paku.
It was the home side that started a promising move inside their own half. The Brumbies snatched the ball from a mistake by the declining Piri Weepu. Hoiles grabbed the pill and raced 40 metres before he was brought down by his opposite number, Rodney So'oialo.
The Brumbies could not hold on to the ball at the breakdown however, and the Hurricanes found space from a resultant turnover. Slick handling sent the ball wide to Hosea Gear, who raced down the touchline. He switched with centre Conrad Smith, who straightened nicely and offloaded to Shannon Paku, who had raced across the field to round off a nice move for the visitors.
Gopperth converted for the final scoring act of the first period, and a 7-3 lead for the Hurricanes. That score from the New Zealanders was a sign that the second half could only get better.
And by Jove, it did, but not immediately. The first 12 minutes or so after the break produced more of the laboured, error-ridden play that characterised that first passage of play.
Andrew Hore then burst through the Brumbies defence after some good work in the phases by the 'Canes. Hore's try was ratified, but Brumbies number eight Stephen Hoiles did not agree and expressed his dismay rather crassly.
Referee Roos was not amused with Hoiles' language, and sent him to the sin-bin for 10 minutes.
The Brumbies now faced a deficit of eleven points and one man, but that did not stop them from scoring their first try through substitute loose forward Julian Salvi.
Salvi's try was set up by Josh Holmes, who had just come onto the field a few minutes before. Holmes spotted a gaping hole in Hurricanes' blindside defence, and tip-toed around the scrum. He tried to cut in to beat the last defender, but slipped on the damp turf. Fortunately for the Brumbies, he kept his cool, and flipped a pass out to Salvi who went over in the corner.
Gerrard once again fluffed his kick, and the home side were back in the game with the score at 8-14.
But this act only seemed to be the spark that started a Hurricanes rampage that the Brumbies could ultimately not repel.
The visitors moved up a gear, and produced a concentrated 11-minute effort that put the contest beyond the grasp of the Canberra team.
Hosea Gear started the coup, after he reacted quickly to the loose ball. Gopperth missed the conversion, but less than four minutes later, the Canes were celebrating another try.
This time flank Chris Masoe dotted down after some fantastic continuity and support from the 'Canes saw them advance the ball 90 metres upfield.
Gopperth converted, and suddenly the lads from Wellington were leading by 26-8.
Brumbies left wing Francis Fainifo had a chance to get one back for the home side moments after Gopperth converted Masoe's try, but the TMO ruled correctly that Fainifo had lost the ball forward as he tried to ground the ball in the tackle, and with that, the Aussies' last chance to get back into the contest evaporated.
The Brumbies were now a beaten team, and Masoe sealed the deal with his second try in the 73rd minute, after some excellent support play. Rookie pivot William Ripia converted to make it 33-8 for the Kiwis.
That left only enough time for a consolation try by Brumbies centre Tyrone Smith, which Gerrard converted. But at 15-33, the win was already in the bag for the 'Canes, and that's how it stayed until the final whistle.
Man of the match: Hurricanes hooker Andrew Hore worked tirelessly in the rucks and mauls, and drove powerfully at the Brumbies defence all night, and also managed to pick up a try for his efforts.
Moment of the match: The Hurricanes produced a brilliant 90-metre running attack which was rounded off by Chris Masoe for his first try.
Villain of the match: It would have to go to Hoiles as well. His absence was self-inflicted, and was a key factor in the outcome of the match.
Yellow cards: Tamati Ellison (Hurricanes, 13 - foul play, dangerous tackle); Stephen Hoiles (Brumbies, 54 - unsportsmanlike conduct, foul language)
The scorers:
For the Brumbies:
Tries: Salvi, T Smith
Cons: Gerrard
Pens: Gerrard
For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Paku, Hore, Gear, Masoe 2
Cons: Gopperth 3, Ripia
Pens:
Teams:
Brumbies: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Peter Playford, 13 Sanualio Afeaki, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Patrick Phibbs, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 7 George Smith (captain), 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Nic Henderson.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 Julian Salvi, 20 Joshua Holmes, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Tim
Wright.
Hurricanes: 15 Cory Jane, 14 Hosea Gear, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Tamati Ellison, 11 Shannon Paku, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Rodney So'oialo (captain), 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Jacob Ellison.
Replacements: 16 Hikawera Elliot, 17 Tim Fairbrother, 18 Jeremy Thrush, 19 Scott Waldrom, 20 Alby Mathewson, 21 Willie Ripia, 22 Tane Tu'ipulotu.
Referee: Willie Roos (South Africa)
Touch judges: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Ian Smith (Australia)
Television match official: Steve Leszczynski (Australia)
Assessor: Gus Erickson (Australia)
Performance auditor: Ian Scotney (Australia)
