Can the Hurricanes blow a Storm to reach the finals?
Roar Pro
By James Mortimer, 9 Apr 2009 James Mortimer is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Hurricanes, Rugby Union, Stormers, Super Rugby, Wellington
Related coverage
Even some of their most ardent supporters would agree that there have been many inconsistent displays from arguably the competitions blue chip team, the Hurricanes.
Blue chip? Well, consider that at full strength, they wield 12 men who have worn the Black jersey, and that they have made more recent Super rugby semi-finals than any other side; and not forgetting their record of six of the last seven New Zealand provincial finals.
But with this comes expectation and pressure. Such weight that is intensified considering that in the modern era, the Hurricanes and Wellington has won only one title, way back in 2000.
They are far from finished, sitting in sixth position, but are more than two wins away from the competition pace setters – the 2007 runners up – the Sharks. When considering as well that they have only beaten one team above them, the Crusaders, one doubts if they have exhibited enough to mix it with the other title threats.
But their losses reveal, despite the scoreboards, the steel that exists in this team.
Against the Waratahs, they dominated every statistic; dramatically advantaged with possession, territory, had three times more rucks, and made twice as many running metres. Against the famed Waratahs defence, the Hurricanes broke the line over 20 times, to which the Waratahs missed nearly 50 tackles.
When losing to the Bulls, it was more of the same. Only the Hurricanes penalty count was against them statistically.
In last rounds loss to the table topping Sharks, it was even clearer reading. The Hurricanes executed twice as many ball carries, made nearly 500 metres more running metres, won 70 more rucks, and made nearly 20 clean breaks.
As impressive as this sounds; it comes with a simple caveat that has many thinking that the Wellington based franchise will not feature in the title calculations – they haven’t won when they did everything to put themselves on the winning dais.
Furthermore, they have exhibited two painfully obvious Achilles heels, a poor lineout and have conceded more unforced turnovers than any other team in the competition. Against the three teams that took their scalp, they were dramatically outdone in these areas.
Equally, they can be shackled. A key component in the Hurricanes attacking and go forward arsenal is Ma’a Nonu. But as the Sharks in particular revealed, the All Black midfielder is a necessary cog in the team and the Hurricanes have not been able to counter his offensive shutdown.
There is no doubt that this team is filled with the personal to win this competition, but they are a howitzer that knows how to fire, but is unable to find the target. They are capable of building the phases and pressure, but not converting it into points.
It is hard to pinpoint the exact weaknesses, but sustained concentration and elimination of elementary lapses will help. This was best epitomised by Zac Guildford and the Hurricanes turning their backs after kicking the ball out of the fall, in which the Sharks threw in quickly and caught the Hurricanes defence unprepared to score a try.
Top level rugby is won and lost with such inaccuracies.
The Hurricanes play the Force in Perth this weekend, before returning home for three straight home matches, against the Stormers, Brumbies and Blues – all teams the yellow and blacks can defeat.
They will then play a penultimate blockbuster against the Chiefs in Hamilton, before finishing their season
42 points is a guaranteed semi-final berth, although in some years, such as 2006, sides with as few as 38 points have made the top four.
With the Hurricanes currently on 20 points, they would need to win at least four of their last six matches and collect the same number of bonus points to figure for the finals.
Hurricanes – 6th place (20 points)
4th best points for, equal 3rd best points against
1st in overall possession, 4th most ball carries, 2 most defenders beaten, 2nd most line breaks, 4th running metres, 3rd most rucks, least missed tackles, least kicks from hand, least tackles made.
Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.
The Crowd Says (9) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
Do you have what it takes to become a sports writer? Write for the roar
Rugby Union articles
- Will Super Rugby crowds continue their slide? (201)
- Will South African rugby force a Super 21 by 2018? (173)
- The real story of how John O’Neill turned Manchester City down (70)
- Dan Parks and the unsolved questions of expat rugby (65)
- Australian teams at Super disadvantage (58)
- Pocock set to be named new Force skipper (56)
- Can the ‘Tahs win the battle after losing the Waugh? (51)
- France turns to Parra and Trinh-Duc
- Rebels look to lift for formidable Blues in rugby trial
- Mr Fix-It Lucas wants to nail down No.10
- Force roost loses ‘Mother Hen’ Sharpe
- Victory beat Mariners with Kewell winner
- Waratahs romp to 83-5 trial win over Samoa A
- Quade Cooper’s return to the Reds goes up a gear
- Wales show Southern Hemisphere how to play running rugby (29)
- What opening matches of Six Nations taught us (19)
- Will Super Rugby crowds continue their slide? (202)
- Clinical Chiefs cost rusty Rebels in Corio (9)
- Six Nations shows rugby is a parochial game at heart (5)
- Goose’s Super Rugby up-and-comer XV for 2012 (29)
- What does the future hold for the Six Nations (50)
- Explore:
- Hurricanes, Rugby Union, Stormers, Super Rugby, Wellington
katzilla said | April 9th 2009 @ 8:43am | Report comment
No one can deny your commitment James.
I think i’ve lost my hopes in this season though, i’ve waited long enough to see them fire.
We haven’t even seen them click even once. Even during the games they won they made horrible mistakes and scored their tries through the other teams mistakes rather then constructed tries through the endless pressure they seem to place on teams. I like Piri Weepu as a runner with ball in hand but he isn’t the key to unlocking our backline.
And our forwards have been poor to say the least. I’d love to see the stats for these subjects.
- Penalties given against Props
- Turnovers from tightfive players in open play.
Its an embarassment that either of our props have gotten a run in the black.
They’re both rubbish, crossing my fingers that Hayman wants to return to his farm when he comes home.
True Tah said | April 9th 2009 @ 8:53am | Report comment
James
I think the bottom line is you need to clear out from the top. For the Canes to start being a force, I think they need to consider whether Cooper is the man for the job.
Colin Cooper has been running the show for a while at the Hurricanes, and given the cattle he has got, its fair to say that they, along with the Sharks and the Tahs, have been the biggest underperformers in Super Rugby. I mean they have a hell of a lot of All Blacks in their side, but the reason they lose is the same reason the All Blacks lose at RWCs, in the moments when the pressure is being applied, they go missing in those key moments. The Tahs did it in round 1 and so did the Sharks last weekend.
I can only contrast Colin Cooper and the Hurricanes with Deans at the Crusaders – Deans excelled in developing young players and blokes who might seemed past it, and turning them into a champion side. Cooper has had plenty of already established stars in his sides, but has consistenty failed to deliver the goods. Maybe the Canes culture is to blame?
Hammer said | April 9th 2009 @ 8:56am | Report comment
I didn’t know the Hurricanes played in the NPC … James you do the Huricanes feeder provinces a disservice with calls like that …
Jerry said | April 9th 2009 @ 9:02am | Report comment
“This was best epitomised by Zac Guildford and the Hurricanes turning their backs after kicking the ball out of the fall, in which the Sharks threw in quickly and caught the Hurricanes defence unprepared to score a try.”
Probably not the best example as it’s been revealed that Guilford’s kick bounced into the stands and the ‘quick throw in” was taken with another ball. It should have been called by the assistant ref or Jonker and called back for the lineout.
True Tah – I don’t agree with your comparison. The Canes are not like the AB’s. The AB’s are consistently strong and turn up every match, but in WC’s have met with stiff opposition and come up short. The Canes blow hot and cold constantly and lose matches in the regular season that they should win. A better comparison would be France.
Put it this way, while both teams have underachieved, the Canes have underachieved far more consitently and routinely than the AB’s.
ohtani's jacket said | April 9th 2009 @ 12:26pm | Report comment
This is where Sean Fitzpatrick got it wrong. Theoretically the Hurricanes should be a semi-final contender, instead we’ve got crap teams like the Waratahs and Crusaders grinding out wins.
But you can only blame the team. They’re one of the dumber sides around and lack any kind of patience.
Jerry said | April 10th 2009 @ 9:25pm | Report comment
Canes were rubbish for 70 minutes v Force, but still got the points. Hopefully with a good run in of home games they can pick up enough points to make the 4 – might come down to the Chiefs match though, and I’m not that confident about that.
Harry said | April 10th 2009 @ 9:31pm | Report comment
David Pocock is a fine young player but had two brain explosions this evening – the first was dropping the ball to let the Canes in for a try before halftime and the 2nd was giving away a blatant penalty to give the Canes field position to win the game.
Once again an Australian team just not tough enough when it really counts. The Force looked out on their feet in the last 15 minutes – too may committees bitching about John Mitchell behind his back and not enough conditioning.
katzilla said | April 10th 2009 @ 10:31pm | Report comment
I thoughtt Pocock was great outside of those two examples.
A frustrating McCaw like performance that had me screaming cheat at the Tv.
Slowed our ball down so often and rode the line well not to get sent off.
Jerry said | April 11th 2009 @ 7:37am | Report comment
Pocock (and Brown to a lesser extent) benefited from getting a huge amount of leeway from Dickenson and also from the Canes simply not committing anywhere near enough forwards to the breakdown.
There was one turnover he got where I don’t think he was on his feet at any point – it was on Ellison at about the 61:20 minute mark. They both went up for a high kick, Ellison got it but both ended up on the ground, then Pocock just rolled on top of Ellison and kind of lifted his crotch off the ground while using his chest and arms to support himself on Ellison and rip the ball away – there was no other players obscuring this and Dickenson was about 2 metres away looking straight at it, yet he allowed it.
The non neutral refs thing has to go as players seem to have far more idea how their own refs will police the breakdown and ruck (witness the Sharks last week taking advantage of Jonker not policing the back foot offside line).