Canes roar back to edge Crusaders

THE Hurricanes landed a wee psychological blow after edging the Crusaders 27-24 in their preseason clash in Queenstown yesterday.

In seven days’ time the two teams will square off again in Dunedin in the opening weekend of Super Rugby Pacific, and both camps would have been mindful not to quite show their full hands to their round-one opponents.

However, the Hurricanes – who didn’t run out any of their All Blacks – will take a spring in their step to their preparation, after Aidan Morgan scored with time up to give them a surprise comefrom-behind, five-tries-to-four win at the Wakatipu Rugby Club.

The Crusaders looked like they were building nicely in their last tune-up for their tilt at a sixthstraight title, controlling large parts of the game in a first half where, with returning All Blacks Joe Moody, Scott Barrett,

Braydon Ennor and George Bridge, they were typically strong at set piece and took a 12-5 lead to the break. But, with a revamped lineup for the second spell, the Crusaders felt the pinch of the Hurricanes’ attack, which several times looked dangerous on the breakout.

No 8 Brayden Iose was a standout, popping up everywhere, and his offload early in the second stanza put veteran Julian Savea away for a flying finish for the first of the Canes’ four second-half tries.

AT A GLANCE

Hurricanes 27 (Salesi Rayasi, Julian Savea, Billy Proctor, Alex Fidow, Aidan Morgan tries; Aidan Morgan con) Crusaders 24 (Dallas McLeod, Abraham Pole, Macca Springer, Isaiah Punivai tries; Fergus Burke con, Simon Hickey con). HT: 5-12