You Beaudy!
Canes triumph over brave Chiefs
All they wanted was the chance go back to work on Monday.
Whether the Hurricanes go on to end next week as Super Rugby champions for the first time, remains to be seen. For now, all you can do is praise the semifinal performance they produced to beat the Chiefs 25-9 at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.
Willis Halaholo, Beauden Barrett and Victor Vito scored the tries for the Hurricanes, who have now gone 3 hours and 41 minutes without conceding one themselves. The Crusaders’ Ryan Crotty scored that, though their defensive prowess owes its origins to the Chiefs.
‘‘Funnily enough when we lost to the Chiefs here [28-27 on April 23], which is the only game we’ve lost at home this year, we were really grumpy with our defence,’’ Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd said.
‘‘We had a pretty harsh meeting the next night at the airport in Sydney. Instead of being a team that was renowned for its attack and a bit flaky in defence, we were going to try to make a commitment to being as good without the ball as we were with the ball.’’
They certainly had to be in this semifinal. The Chiefs dominated possession and territory and thoroughly tested the Hurricanes’ defensive commitment.
Time after time, though, a Hurricane came up with an important tackle or got their hand in to disrupt a pass or simply got up and put themselves in the defensive line, even if they didn’t think they had the strength.
Around that, Barrett sprinkled a bit of his magic, creating Halaholo’s try from nothing, then intercepting a Sam Cane pass to ensure the Hurricanes led 15-6 at halftime. to Vito powered over from a fivemetre scrum shortly after the break and then it was all about heart and defence.
As Boyd said, the Hurricanes have never been known for their blue-collar attitude or selflessness. But this year’s squad have become a genuine team and their reward will be a home final against either the Highlanders or Lions next Saturday.
The Highlanders tipped them over in identical circumstances a year ago and now the time has arrived to try to put that right.
It’s fashionable to only look ahead – and even then just a week at a time – in sport. But Barrett’s not afraid to admit that he’s motivated by last year’s grand final disappointment.
‘‘It’s what gets me days,’’ Barrett said.
He thought fans would probably prefer the Highlanders again, but said the team were just happy to be playing anyone in a decider. As Boyd noted, too, it’s been a long time coming.
‘‘After [losses in] round one and two, if we’d have said we’d get to another final at home we probably would’ve had a bit of a laugh about it,’’ Boyd said.
‘‘The turnaround has been pretty good. Obviously, the pain from last year’s final is still with us and we’ll be throwing the kitchen sink at it next week.’’
Whether it’s the kitchen sink and captain Dane Coles, remains to be seen. Predictably, the skipper wasn’t thrown at the Chiefs after failing to shake off his rib injury.
Fully fit or not, Coles will be at the team’s training base on Monday morning and that’s all he and the team ever wanted. going most (Willis Halaholo, Beauden Barrett, Victor Vito tries; Barrett 2 pen, 2 con) (Damian McKenzie 3 pen). 15-6. Backs to the wall: pB2 Coach class: pB2