Hurricanes fall into deep hole
breaks in midfield which meant a forward pack that’s worked bloody hard in Africa for two weeks and I thought again worked well had to trudge back.’’
Hammett wasn’t chucking in the towel even if he felt like it last night.
‘‘We’ve had a South African trip and played the finalists from last year. We probably need to keep things in perspective. We’re not out of it.’’
The Hurricanes took a fortunate 13-3 lead when halfback TJ Perenara scored, officials missing Cory Jane stepping into touch, but it was shortlived.
When Vaega fumbled under his posts Brumbies fullback Jesse Mogg took full advantage to score from the resulting scrum.
Mogg then sliced the Hurricanes apart from deep in his own territory to set up a sustained attack that saw wing Robbie Coleman score on the stroke of halftime for a 15-13 lead.
Tevita Kuridrani spun past Vaega after the break and replacement loose forward Lachlan McCaffery ended the contest with his side’s bonus try with 10 minutes to play.
Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith looked crushed, but was adamant the side would stick together.
‘‘I don’t think it’s a coaching thing and I don’t think you’d find any of the players, even away from you guys, who would say that’s the case.
‘‘They’re a pretty proud bunch and they are hurting. It’s a tricky recipe getting rugby right. Some teams have it and don’t even know why. We have to search for it, that’s all we can do.’’
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