Hurricanes suffer third straight loss
Brumbies 24 Hurricanes 12
The Hurricanes are in a rut. Held to fewer than 15 points in their last three outings, the Wellington-based team again struggled for points in a 24-12 loss to the Brumbies in Canberra.
In their past three matches, the Hurricanes have scored 13, 14 and 12 points — a worrying sign heading into the business end of the season.
It was a dominant performance from the hosts, with the win keeping alive their slim playoff hopes.
It was clear the Hurricanes missed the influence of first-five Beauden Barrett and loose forward trio Brad Shields, Ardie Savea and Vaea Fifita, as the ill-disciplined side struggled in a dismal performance.
It’s safe to say you’re unlikely to see a more absurd try than TJ Perenara’s opener in the fourth minute. The Hurricanes No 9 left the ground and flew through the Brumbies line to intercept an attempted long pass by counterpart Joe Powell. The pass was made on the Brumbies tryline and all Perenara had to do was land in control of the ball to score the first five-pointer of the evening.
It wsn’t long before the Brumbies hit back, with midfielder Kyle Godwin going over out wide, but the Canes followed suit through Julian Savea.
From there, the Brumbies left the Hurricanes behind. The visitors were unable to feed their backline, as the hosts dominated play and made their opponents work at the defensive end.
The Hurricanes led 12-5 at halftime but the Brumbies were looking likely to pull off an upset. When hooker Folau Fainga’a scored early in the second half, the scores were level.
While the Hurricanes had the odd chance with the ball, they showed little enterprise in their play. Unable to use the ball effectively, they gave away too many penalties and went a man down late in the second half when Blade Thomson was shown a yellow card — a victim of the team’s repeated infringements.
The Brumbies ran in three unanswered tries in the second half to seal a 12-point win.
Brumbies 24 (K. Godwin, F. Fainga’a, R. Arnold, A. Muirhead tries; C. Leali’ifano con, M. Lucas con) Hurricanes 12 (TJ Perenara, J. Savea tries; J. Barrett con). Halftime: 5-12.