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Stand-in Western Force five-eighth James Stannard put in the best performance of his career but it was to no avail as the Hurricanes came from behind to snatch a thrilling 34-28 Super Rugby bonus-point win at Palmerston North on Friday.
The injury-hit Force looked set for victory when Cameron Shepherd’s touchline penalty in the 67th minute gave the visitors a surprise 28-20 lead.
But Hurricanes five-eighth Aaron Cruden, who nailed all six of his kicks on goal, inspired a stirring turnaround, with a series of sublime offloads in the tackle setting up the last two tries of the match.
His first dish off set up lock James Broadhurst in the 71st minute, while his second resulted in fullback Cory Jane barging over for the match-winning try just minutes before full-time.
All Blacks inside centre Ma’a Nonu had earlier bagged a brace, while for the Force it was Shepherd, Ben McCalman and Rory Sidey who scored tries.
The Force limped into the match without almost half of their first-choice backline, with scrumhalf Brett Sheehan, five-eighth Willie Ripia and inside centre James O’Connor all missing through injury.
But stand-in flyhalf Stannard, who normally plays scrumhalf, was sensational throughout, with his darting runs and deft passes helping set up two of the Force’s three tries.
His partner in crime Mark Swanepoel, who entered the match with just one cap to his name, was also a strong contributor at scrumhalf.
“I thought given Swanepoel and Stannard trained on Wednesday for the first time together, I thought they were very good and I thought the team rallied around them and supported them exceptionally well,” Force coach Richard Graham said after the match.
Nonu scored the first try of the night after 13 minutes but from there it was the Force who took control, with skipper Nathan Sharpe, winger David Smith and Stannard prominent in the first half.
Shepherd closed the margin to 7-6 when he kicked truly in the 18th minute, and the Force hit the lead five minutes later when Shepherd’s cut-out pass opened the door for Sidey to touch down.
In the 32nd minute, the Force strung together 11 phases of play before Stannard’s no-look inside ball to Shepherd cleared the path for the Force fullback to power over, giving the visitors a handy 18-10 half-time lead.
Nonu bagged his second shortly after the break but a opportunistic break by Stannard in the 57th minute followed by a smart offload gifted a try to McCalman.
But from there it was the Cruden show as the Hurricanes playmaker dished off a number of magical passes to help his team steal victory.
“Very disappointing,” a shattered Sharpe said after the match.
“I thought James Stannard and Swanny (Swanepoel) were fantastic tonight.
“The boys came on and did a fantastic job.
“For 77 minutes we played reasonably well but in the last three minutes we let them in.
“A lot of things worked well for us tonight. But when they got down the other end of the field they scored points, and that’s the telling stat I think.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.