Lam critics silenced by hat-trick
BEN Lam goes all right for a bloke with work-ons.
Never mind that he’s Super Rugby’s top tryscorer, with some eye-catching efforts now among his tally of 12. The experts will tell you the Hurricanes wing has a few flaws to iron out.
Well, he continues to flatten defenders all right and left a few Lions in his wake as the Hurricanes produced a scratchy 28-19 win at Westpac Stadium last night. Lam registered a hattrick and will be hard to bench anytime soon, despite the Hurricanes’ backline riches.
But while Lam did his job fairly well, the rest of the team probably won’t dwell on the performance with great fondness.
Things began well enough for the Hurricanes when Lam crossed for his 10th try of the season, in just the eighth minute. Ardie Savea raced in 18min later and, with Beauden Barrett converting both, the hosts were out to a handy 14-0 lead.
But they weren’t really that convincing. Some of the decision making and skill execution was average and, in the absence of real front-foot ball, players opted for the odd miracle.
It made for a frustrating, stopstart spectacle, in which the Lions remained in touch through little good work of their own.
Sure they were tackling okay and competing in the set pieces, but beyond that the Lions didn’t appear to have much to offer.
If they were going to score, you presumed it would be courtesy of a Hurricanes mistake. Halfback Finlay Christie didn’t disappoint, throwing an errant pass that led to fullback Nehe Milner-Skudder being trapped in-goal.
From the resultant scrum, Lions halfback Nic Groom wriggled over and Elton Jantjies’ conversion ensured a 14-7 halftime scoreline. Injured halfback T J Perenara is an outside chance to be fit to play the Blues next week and, on this showing, his return can’t come soon enough.
Milner-Skudder, meanwhile, had been a late inclusion in the starting XV after Jordie Barrett rolled an ankle during Friday’s captain’s run. He’d felt fit enough to play, but was a very late scratching.
You wondered whether that try – deserved or otherwise – might spark the Lions. But it was the Hurricanes who were next to score when that man Lam went over in the corner, after multiple phases in the Lions’ 22.
In windy conditions, hardly made for for goal-kicking, Beauden Barrett again converted from touch and things looked a lot better at 21-7.
Plenty has been said about Lam’s pace and power, but he’s also very dainty for a big man and has good hands.
And, come the 54th-min, he was running in his hat-trick. The movement had begun with a nice Ngani Laumape ball to Barrett, before Matt Proctor put Lam away.
The experts will tell you Lam shouldn’t be in the All Blacks’ frame. But that ignores the good things he appears to do better than just about any wing.
The team ought to have gone on with the job, but late tries to Marnus Schoeman and Sylvian Mahuza meant the Lions finished closer than they should’ve.