Nehe runs riot on Hurricanes return
NEHE Milner-Skudder celebrated his longawaited return to Super Rugby yesterday with a brilliant hattrick to help the Hurricanes destroy the Rebels 71-6 in Wellington.
The blistering World Cupwinning back had recovered from the shoulder injury that kept him out for almost a year, but a hamstring strain ruled him out of the season opener against the Sunwolves.
With teenage sensation Reiko Ioane grabbing the headlines last week with a hat-trick in Melbourne against those same Rebels, Milner-Skudder was keen to show All Black boss Steve Hansen he had not lost the pace that helped him take the rugby world by storm in 2015.
Inside-centre Ngani Laumape and wing Vince Aso scored a brace of tries each, with Matt Proctor, Reed Prinsep, Ardie Savea and his brother Julian also touching down in the 11-try rout at Wellington Regional Stadium.
The Hurricanes, who obliterated Japan’s Sunwolves 83-17 in a Super Rugby record victory in Tokyo last week, have now scored 24 tries from their opening two matches of the season.
But scrum-half TJ Perenara is fully aware they’ll face far sterner tests in the coming weeks, starting with the Chiefs in Waikato next week.
“A lot of the time you only get that satisfaction if the scoreline falls in your favour,” he said. “What we’re trying to drive in our environment is to win small moments and get excited about that stuff.
“So we know that at the end of the day we get judged on whether we come off the field with more points than the other team. But in our circle we want to win a ruck, we want to win a scrum, we want to win a lineout.
“So it’s about having that mindset to want to win each moment in a game and continue to do that for the duration of the game and duration of the season.” The draw handed the
Chiefs a far tougher start with their opening games against Kiwi opposition but, after downing the Highlanders in the first round, they brought the Blues crashing down to earth with a 41-26 win.
Chiefs capitalised on a red card shown to Bristol bound Steve Luatua on the stroke of half-time, for a high tackle on wing Tim Nanai-Williams.
Tries from Liam Messam and Damian McKenzie had put the Chiefs 15-9 in front but, following Luatua’s binning, Chiefs pulled away with tries from Hika Elliot, Lachlan Boshier, James Lowe and Anton Lienert Brown.
The Crusaders stormed back from a 27-6 deficit to stun the Highlanders 30-27 in Dunedin yesterday.
All Blacks wing Waisake Naholo scored two early tries and set up another for Gareth Evans for the Highlanders, but a stunning second half saw the Crusaders awarded a penalty try before David Havili and Whetu Douglas took them back to 27-25 with two minutes to play.
Enter wing Seta Tamanivalu, who showed great balance and power to sneak over at the corner and stun the home crowd.
The Sharks also claimed a last-ditch win as a try from Lukhanyo Am helped them beat the Brumbies in Canberra.
On Thursday, Eto Nabuli scored a hat-trick but it was not enough to lift the Reds to victory as they were beaten 26-19 at Western Force.
The Lions leaked five tries to the Waratahs at home yesterday but last year’s finalists went on to score eight themselves to claim a 55-36 win.
The Stormers made it two from two with a 32-25 win over the Jaguares while the Cheetahs narrowly beat the Bulls 34-28
The two weakest sides of the competition met in Singapore yesterday and it was the Kings who came out on top with a 37-23 victory over the Sun wolves.