Aso ‘shocked’ by wonder try
One side wasn’t.
The Highlanders came to Westpac Stadium last night unbeaten for the Super Rugby season and buoyed by an impressive home win over the Crusaders.
But you don’t get any points for what you did last week. Your right to play and to win has to be earned all over again and, try as they might, the Highlanders never quite got themselves in a position to do that against the Hurricanes.
The Highlanders were by no means played off the park. But the Hurricanes accumulated points when they really needed them and had emerged as worthy 29-12 winners by the end.
‘‘I thought the Hurricanes took their opportunities well. We knew it would come down to key moments and we didn’t take ours and they took theirs. I thought the three tries they scored were outstanding,’’ Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger said.
For the record, it was four tries the Hurricanes mustered. The first was by Beauden Barrett, after he was clinical. The other pounced on a kick by Highlander Rob Thompson and scampered 60 metres.
But the three that will live in most people’s memory – including Mauger’s – came from Hurricanes wings Ben Lam and Vince Aso.
Lam’s first, in the 38th minute, came as a result of brute strength and great awareness. The second, in the 73rd minute, wasn’t dissimilar. In between, Aso performed a minor miracle to touch down in the tackle of Highlanders fullback Ben Smith.
‘‘I just felt I needed to jump, because I knew he was going to chop-tackle,’’ Aso said.
So with Aso already airborne and Smith then making solid contact, the wing really was flying. The trick then was to touch the ball down before going into touch.
‘‘I just felt like I was going over on my legs, on my bum and I just felt like I needed to put my hand down,’’ said Aso.
‘‘When I stood up I was pretty shocked and I was like ‘man, I don’t know if I scored or not’. Then I just saw a couple run to me and [I] celebrating with them.’’
The win sees the Hurricanes sit second on the New Zealand conference ladder – with a three-win, one-loss record – a point behind the Crusaders.
The Hurricanes were a reasonably content lot, after seeing off of boys started the Highlanders. Particularly given it was halfback TJ Perenara’s 100th match for the franchise.
They lost flanker Ardie Savea to a first-half rib injury, while centre Matt Proctor’s sternum was iced up after the game.
‘‘He’s got a bit of a tender rib or two. I don’t think there’s any cracks or breaks there, but he’s a bit sore,’’ Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd said of Savea.
Proctor was described as sore too, ahead of Friday’s trip to meet the Rebels in Melbourne.
Boyd hinted that, in the interests of keeping everyone enthused and firing, there might be a change or two against the Rebels. That could include midfield, where Aso is itching to have a run after 20 minutes off the bench in place of right wing Julian Savea.
I don’t think there’s any cracks or breaks there, but he’s a bit sore. Chris Boyd on Ardie Savea