Hurricanes edge Reds for 10th straight win

WELLINGTON: The Wellington Hurricanes struggled to get their high octane attack going but still had just enough to overcome an obdurate Queensland Reds side 38-34 yesterday and notch up their 10th straight Super Rugby victory.

Winger Ben Lam nabbed his 13th and 14th tries of the campaign to stand one shy of a Super Rugby record and there were also scores from number eight Blade Thomson, lock Sam Lousi and flyhalf Beauden Barrett, who added 13 points with the boot.

The Reds, humbled 63-28 by the Sunwolves last week, brought a physicality to the contest that would have made coach Brad Thorn proud but were unable to prevent Australia’s winless streak against New Zealand opposition from reaching 40 matches.

Tries from winger Filipo Daugunu and hooker Taniela Tupou helped them to a 20-14 lead after 26 minutes with the other winger, Jordan Petaia, and centre Samu Kerevi crossing after the break to keep the visitors in the match for the full 80 minutes.

“There’s a reason why they are the best team in the comp at the moment,” Reds skipper Scott Higginbotham said in post-match interview. “But it was a huge display of character from our boys after last week’s disappointment.”

The win put the Hurricanes back on top of the competition standings by three points pending the Crusaders’ match today with the two most recent champions scheduled to meet in Christchurch next week.

The 2016 champions might have expected an easier ride from a Reds side that has only won four of their 11 matches this season but it turned out to be far tighter. – Reuters