Barrett gets Hurricanes off the mark as Chiefs struggle

Jordie Barrett highlighted a fine performance on his return from injury with a booming 60m penalty as he led the Hurricanes to a first win in Super Rugby Aotearoa, 25-18 over the Chiefs in Hamilton yesterday.

It was a morale-boosting victory for the ‘Canes in New Zealand’ s revived Super Rugby competition even though they finished with only 14 players as Scott Scrafton was shown a red card after receiving two yellows.

But it added to a disappointing return to New Zealand for the Waikato-born and former Wales coach Warren Gatland as his side slumped to a fourth loss.

In a much-improved second half for the Chiefs, they went from a 20-3 deficit at the turn to be one converted try from drawing level, and Hurricanes skipper TJ Perenara was relieved to hear the final whistle.

“It was awesome for us to get that win.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks for us,” he said.

“For us to be able to close that one out, even though the Chiefs put us under a lot of pressure at the end, was good for the boys.”

A dejected Chiefs captain Sam Cane said it was “hugely disappointing” to have lost four from four.

“It’s not like we’re not giving ourselves chances to win the game, we’re just not quite clinical enough to take them.”

Barrett, who had been sidelined by a shoulder injury through the early rounds of the competition, made his presence felt from the start with a long cut-out pass that allowed Kobus van Wyk to stroll over unmarked for the opening try in the fourth minute.

The Chiefs stayed in the hunt for most of the first half, and trailed 7-3 five minutes before halftime when Barrett led a 13-point burst to give the Hurricanes a 20-3 lead at the break. —