Hurricanes blow Blues away in second half

By AFP, 13 Feb 2010 AFP is a Roar Pro

Tagged:: Blues, Hurricanes, Rugby Union, Stephen Brett, Super Rugby

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Auckland Blues’ new signing Stephen Brett was the first half hero and second half villain as the Wellington Hurricanes opened the 2010 Super 14 rugby season with a come-from-behind 34-20 victory.

The former Canterbury Crusaders flyhalf scored one try and made another as the Blues racked up a comfortable 20-12 lead by half time, with the sharp backline getting the better of their All Black-studded opponents.

But fortunes changed at North Harbour Stadium in the second spell after an intercepted Brett pass gave the Hurricanes their only try and put them in the lead for the first time.

“The turning point of the game was that intercept. It really put us back on our heels,” a rueful Blues captain Keven Mealamu said afterwards.

The Blues appeared to be heading for a comfortable victory at the break, when the score flattered the Hurricanes, but they fell apart in the second spell as the visitors scored 22 unanswered points.

“Obviously we were a bit nervous after the first half, but we came back out and got our act together and came out in the second half and put a pretty good performance together,” Hurricanes captain Andrew Hore said.

Flyhalf Willie Ripia and halfback Piri Weepu slotted nine penalties between them during the match to add to the single try.

Australian referee Stu Dickinson was extra vigilent on offences at the breakdown, blowing 13 penalties in the first spell alone and breaking the continuity of an otherwise freeflowing match.

The Hurricanes scored the first points of the new season with a penalty to Ripia after just a minute and a half.

But the Blues hit back four minutes into the spell with a try to Brett, who ran through a gaping Hurricanes defensive hole to touch down near the posts.

Both teams were in an attacking mood but the Blues were more fluid with ball in hand and were rewarded with a second try after 17 minutes.

Brett again figured towards the end of a sustained Blues attack, breaking the defensive line to put prop John Afoa over under the posts.

The Hurricanes back line struggled for the same penetration but Ripia kept them in touch with four penalties during the first spell.

Ripia kicked another penalty early in the second spell before Hosea Gear’s 59 metre intercept try put the Hurricanes into the lead after Weepu added the conversion.

Weepu kicked four more penalties — the first following a charged down attempted chip kick by Brett — to give the Hurricanes an easy win that had appeared a remote possibility at halftime.

The nine Wellington penalties made a record for super rugby.

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The Crowd Says (5) | Page 1 of Comments

pothale said | February 13th 2010 @ 3:57am | Report comment

Wellington Hurricane rains penalties down on Auckland to give them the blues.

Couldn’t resist.

Setting new records for penalties in a match cos of the breakdown – Oops.

Betcha Stu Dickinson gets a midnight call from Paddy O’Brien/John O’Neill to read him the riot act.

Kick-infested rugby, anyone?

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- Taniwha said | February 14th 2010 @ 9:21am | Report comment
  
  perhaps someone could explain the marking of a kick to dickinson. and a few other rules. he had a shocker.
  
  all that aside, it’s good to see the way the game is refereed at the moment. encouraging teams to secure possesion rather than territory. last year having the ball in hand was almost a liability. lets hope the nothern hemisphere will catch on. but who are we kidding to believe that could ever happen.
  
  Reply
katzilla said | February 13th 2010 @ 6:24am | Report comment

Did you actually watch the game pot? Or just making comments based on the report?
Because there wasn’t that much in game kicking. There were a few penalties but that’s to be expected as players get used to the new rules(new interpretations)
There was alot of ball movement, mostly by the blues. And some good running play as well as some ferocious defence.
Aaron Cruden got absolutely crunched in his first touch of super 14 ball by benson Stanley. Took him a few minutes to get up.
All in all a good come from behind victory to get the season started.

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pothale said | February 13th 2010 @ 6:48am | Report comment

Yep I did, katz. What were the Blues at in the second half?

Watched the Cheetahs/Bulls game as well.

Bit of a contrast. Reminded me of Liverpool v Newcastle in the old days. Doesn’t matter how loose our defence is, we’ll still score more tries than you. Powerful stuff, but lots of missed forward passes by the officials. When you see Brussouw operating in a side like the Cheetahs, you realise how much he needs good guys around him.

Should be an interesting season. The new interpretations don’t seem to have made much difference to NH games so far, but maybe introducing them mid-season in the 6 Nations is easier than at the start of a new season like S 14.

Roll on tomorrow. Plenty of rugby to keep us sated.

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Ora said | February 14th 2010 @ 6:38am | Report comment

The new interpretations will take a bit of time to get used but overall Auckland just made far too many errors and any team with their worth in salt will take any points on offer like the Hurricanes did
The Canes showed some nerve and didn’t give up when the points were stacking up against them something they wouldn’t have done a few years ago.

As for your little dig Pothale I’m just laughing away because clearly your comment was made before the belting the Irish took at the hands of the French today. Seems the SH boys aren’t the only ones not 100% comfortable with the new rules yet

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