Hurricanes vs Kings highlights: Hurricanes secure late bonus point win

Yes I agree regarding a potential penalty try. Please refer to my post to OB further up the page. There are two references in the law to this very situation. One say "on feet" - the other does not mention "on feet" so I'm not certain.

So your contention is that the tackle was in the field of play and not in goal. It then follows hat the tackler has no legal right to prevent the tackled player from placing the ball, as Laumape attempted to do, because he was off his feet. As Laumape planted the ball on the post whilst being obstructed by the tackler, it's probable that had the tackler rolled away, as required to do by law, Laumape would have scored. Penalty try.

OB I don’ think the ref called held up. They agreed it was short of the goal line – it touched the post but was not grounded against the post. Either way – held up in goal or short of the goal line – it is a scrum five to the attacking team. Hurricanes are the team last going forward at the tackle / ruck so they have the scrum feed. If as you suggest the Kings player might have been penalised for playing at the ball whilst on the ground then there would have been grounds for a penalty try. Where, as in this instance, a player is tackled near the goal line he may reach out and ground the ball and defending players on there feet may prevent him from doing so. Elsewhere in the laws it says exactly the same but does not mention being on their feet. So to be honest I’m not certain it should have been a penalty against the Kings.

The in goal area includes the goal line but not the post. For the post to be relevant the ball needs to be on the ground against the post then that would be deemed in goal.

A beer will go down well mate - I just gotta get an itinerary sorted but will let you know. Golf is great - helps me pass the time away in my twilight retirement. Canes are getting better IMO and will definitely improve, when their back-line gets confidence, to try more. There's s decent forward pack building so there shouldn't be much to worry about, in that department. Like you, I will be hoping my side can get a few players back from injury, for this match. A good win last night and yes I agree, the Kings did make your boys work, for their win.

I had another look also CG and perhaps there were a couple of clangers (nothing unusual about that when compared with other refs) but, I thought the ref had a pretty good match. The biggest clanger IMO was when Laumape got held up, short of the line. The Kings tackler (No13 - Engelbrecht I think) was off his feet and yet, there he was in full TV vision, playing at the ball while Laumape was trying to feed it back, for a ruck. The ref blows his whistle and they rule Laumape was short after cancelling Savea's block run. My query is this - if he is short as the ref suggests, then the ball is still in the field of play. If so, the tackler should be rolling away instead of lying there off his feet, trying to scramble the ball from Laumape. IMO, that should've been as penalty to the Canes. What does the ref call - held up and a scrum. How can he be held up if he is short??

Hey OB, Long time no type as they say. How is the golf going? Interesting observations. I am not sure TJ has taken to a leadership role very well, as you suggest, trying too hard and perhaps burdened at this point. Agree with Barrett, he straightens and it brings a lot more value to the team offensively. Have long been a supporter of Thomsons and have written so on these pages. Hopefully he has finally eliminated his injury issues and can play freely for the balance of the season. I am sure he can make the grade while Fafita is quite a talent and is defensively quite strong for what appears a slight frame. Incredibly skilful. Interesting re Coles. Only a few years ago many were questioning his ability and expressing concern over him and the All Blacks which surprised me no end. Glad to see those sort of comments have dried up. I personally had more time for the combination with Aso, particularly defensively but either way, it is wonderful to be able to have a debate over options in the side and this is without considering Procter or Ahki. Great position to be in after losing Ma'a and Snake. It was a very individualistic performance last night, perhaps harking back to Cane sides of old, tending to rely on the individual talents to scrape through. Was particularly annoyed with a fellow member last night commenting on how on earth this was a side that made the final last season. Considering that only three of last nights team actually started the final it was dumb commentary. There is a lot we Cane fans can look forward too. Broadhurst and Goodes back in the tight would be a tremendous boost. Plenty to work on obviously and the bye has come at a good time as well. As is our want, we tend to focus on our own side and their failings which is natural but credit has to go to the Kings as well, they played very well for a team written off by all and sundry. Anyway, cheers mate and a happy easter, hope you are travelling well and if you ever venture this way, perhaps for the Chiefs clash (subtle hint there) we should have a beer or perhaps a juice if that is preferable.

Ken - You made criticism of the referee and I more or less invited you to justify this. And that makes me precious and unaccepting of any question of the Hurricanes superiority. No it’s neither of those. And again you’re accusing the referee of having eyes for the Kings and helping the Hurricanes beat them. I have watched a replay of this game this morning and quiet honestly I don’t see why you have an issue. Maybe if you pointed out one or two instances but other than some loose mention of 50/50 crucial calls and an alleged offside you have provided nothing. I think we need to reconsider who the precious one might be.

And I wondered how the Canes could butcher a couple of tries, with ease. Now methinks whether Boyd and Plumtree will have any finger-nails left let alone hair on top. Some observations then.... (a) TJP is trying too much. He's not only running too far with ball in hand and getting isolated but he still has a tendency to suffer white-line-fever. (b) BB is not trying enough. He needs to take the line on and use his centres to run off him. He shifted the ball all night and made the Kings defensive reads a lot easier, than deserved. (c) I think if Thompson continues playing in this vein then he'd give Hansen & Co, something to think about in the lock/flank/No8 utility position. (d) Fifita is building towards a decent season - such a menacing runner with ball in hand. And isn't Fatiolofa a tackling menace. (e) Coles is a gem. Such confidence and speed from the hook position. (f) Laumape and Halaholo are building a partnership - rather nicely IMO. They have speed, feinting side-steps and bullocking torso's to drop the shoulder - but, don't over-do it cos it can inhibit, the offload which should be foremost in their minds when breaking a defence line. (g) I'd like to see Woody havago - he played without trying too much. IMO, he seems to be playing within himself in order not to make an error rather than trust his instinct, with or without an error. He is IMO, a talented player who needs to break out from being No4 in the back 3, line-up. (h) The Canes can only get better and IMO, the only hindrance is individual skills. Improving their skills brings improved combinations, the errors will be minimised and the tries may not be botched with such ease, as we saw last night.

I wonder who came up with the brilliant idea to dress NZ referees in yellow. Didn't they know that there are already many teams with yellow in their kits? The pink from last year was very distinctive. Yellow ref=bad. Pink ref= good. No SH team wears pink. Stade Français is unique (and French).

The point that they were lucky is the sticking point. The win? Was due to poor refereeing? Last weeksmatches were close. Are you saying the ref accounted for the twenty two point difference? But good to see we have more refereeing debacles to discuss, our reason for being it seems. Frankly the whole refereeing thing is ruining the game. We are now waiting in anticipation to have a go at another's efforts after being picked on a week earlier? I think during a match there's now this switch in every fan that turns on and starts focussing on the ref. For some it's earlier, for some it's later, or the battery's dead. But it certainly seems to be in there somewhere. How sad for us all.

War dad, it seems the eye patch is yours. Both my eyes are open. I acknowledged the poor home town refereeing in OZ and SA last week, then I commented on this equally poor officiating. You and Clarke and numerous others in black are way too precious. Ref had eyes for the Kings that he didn't have for Canes. Spiro gave it to Peyper and Jonker last week (fairly I thought). And similarly, the OZ ref for the Blues/Canes was embarrassing. Blues were harshly dealt with at scrum time. The ref either by chance or choice (or selective input from AR's) last night helped the Canes beat the Kings. The score line flattered the Canes and ballooned after the game's imbalance was established. Certain NZers (and you two seem to be amongst them) cannot accept any question of their team's 'superiority'. Their were certain crucial calls in this game that favoured the Canes. I saw at least one 2 metre offside ruck defense within kicking distance, for instance. After the Kings had copped a penalty for less. To be fair it may not have just been the man with the whistle. The assistants may have kept mum at crucial times and vocal at others. And also to be fair, it was not a huge imbalance. But there was nevertheless a perceptible favour given to the Canes at crucial times. And Wardad - as for the 'eye patch' jibe- I was a neutral watching a NZ/SA game. Oh the irony.

Of course he didnt ,that would require shifting the patch to his other eye !

yes it did, so would that mean that The tackle is ruled to be in goal and therefore the tackler playing the ball can do so while off his feet? That scenario would make the player playing the ball off his feet legal and then no try held up? Just seeking to clarify if that's the way the law should be applied. Any referees out there to shed some light on this one?

42-20 5/2 tries - yeah quite lucky. Just as a matter of interest did you count any 50/50 calls the other way.

After the SA and Aussie ref preformance last week then we have this effortI counted at least 5 50/50 calls that went the way of the home team. Off six knock ons. Clearly the ref was refereeing one side more than the other. Canes very lucky.

Kings much better than that score suggests. Probably a good lineout away from hitting the lead mid second half. Their ball thieving flanker Veldemann was outstanding so was their quick-footed hooker. Canes in the end had the extra gear or two. Ardie Savea, Fifita, Laumape and Coles probably their best.

Yes! Encouraging rugby is the way forward. Any free to air super rugby promotion? Channel One is late, when it needs to be live.

Kings improving or Canes losing their spark?

Barret and perenara are playing themselves out of the All Blacks