Lam silences Rebels in Hurricanes romp
A new year, a new competition format, and yet still the same result whenever a New Zealand team meets an Australian side in Super Rugby.
Unsurprisingly, the first transtasman clash of 2018 ended the same way the last 32 did — with a Kiwi team victorious.
This time, it was the Hurricanes, who retained their lead atop the New Zealand conference, reeling off 42 unanswered points to claim a 50-19 victory over the Melbourne Rebels.
Ben Lam continued his stunning start to the season with four tries as the Hurricanes claimed a predictable result in unfamiliar fashion, with the Rebels’ admirable opening to 2018 coming undone against Kiwi opposition. Wooden spooners in 2017, the Rebels had claimed four bonus point wins in their first five games, and scored 28 tries in the process.
However, those victories were over the Reds, Sunwolves, Brumbies and Sharks, and against one of the competition favourites, the Rebels couldn’t convert a promising start into a stunning upset.
Despite what the scoreline suggests, they did give the Hurricanes a fright, playing smarter rugby early on, and making the most of a sloppy opening period from the visitors.
The Hurricanes’ ill-discipline let the Rebels keep the scoreboard ticking over in increments of three, and promising attacks were consistently cut short by ill-advised offloads.
That inconsistency led to a controversial Rebels try, with Matt Philip burrowing over from close range after TMO George Ayoub surprisingly ruled a suspect knock-on had gone backwards.
That gave the Rebels a 19-8 lead, but just as things looked dicey for the Hurricanes, luck turned back their way.
A Beauden Barrett midfield bomb looked to be heading into touch, with Rebels pivot Jack Debreczeni shepherding it out, but the ball took a wicked bounce over his head, leaving the alert Lam to collect and fend off a pair of would-be impediments on a 50m sprint to the line.
Lam again showed why he is being touted as an All Blacks prospect, putting on a punishing display of strength and speed.
So difficult to stop close to the line, Lam went top of the try-scoring charts with his four-try haul, and his second try proved the turning point.
After being down 11 points, Lam’s lucky bounce kickstarted a romp, as a tight tussle turned into a trouncing. Ngani Laumape bumped off two defenders to finish a superb counterattack, while loose forward Gareth Evans showed a startling turn of speed to do the same.
It was vintage Hurricanes on a night where they didn’t hit top gear, but still produced more than enough for a fourth straight win, and second spot on the Super Rugby ladder. Hurricanes 50 (Ben Lam 4, Beauden Barrett, Gareth Evans, Ngani Laumape tries; Barrett 3 cons, 3 pens) Rebels 19 (Matt Philip try; Jack Debreczeni con, 4 pens). HT: 25-19.