Canes’ super safari
BULLS HURRICANES 13 17 with a win and would need some major improvements against the Force in Perth on Friday night.
‘‘We’re delighted to have come to Africa and got eight points, but we’re not terribly happy with how we played,’’ Boyd said. ‘‘We were too inaccurate and put ourselves in a situation at the back end of the game where we didn’t clear our territory and put ourselves under pressure.’’
He was largely referring to a poor exit play with five minutes to play when second-five Ma’a Nonu threw a wayward pass inside his 22m rather than clear territory.
The resulting turnover saw Bulls replacement forward Grant Hattingh dive over for what looked like the match winner, only for the try to be ruled out because his fingertip scraped the touch line as he grounded the ball.
Boyd was confident the TMO would rule Hattingh out after viewing the replays, but said the Hurricanes should not have let the match go down to the wire.
‘‘We left probably three tries on the field in the first half where we worked them into the middle of the field, shortened them up, and had an edge with an overlap, but failed to get our decisionmaking right,’’ he said. ‘‘We are delighted with the win, but there’s plenty to work on.’’
The Hurricanes trailed 10-9 at the break despite a pack led by prop Reggie Goodes, lock James Broadhurst and flankers Brad Shields and Calum Gibbins, having the better of the Bulls.
The Hurricanes only managed one try, to Julian Savea, who took a quick tap penalty and scrambled over with 15 minutes to play.
While loose forward Victor Vito produced another strong cameo after coming on in tandem with Ardie Savea for the final half hour, the reserves didn’t quite overrun the Bulls as per the plan, and the match ended up going to the wire.
‘‘What’s pleasing for me is the character and ticker. We can now get on with refining the detail,’’ Boyd said.
He will have a fully fit squad this week including fullback Nehe Milner Skudder (knee) and midfielder Rey Lee-Lo (hip).