High five: Canes grind out tough win

this year.

Not such good news for Boyd was a badly dislocated finger joint that saw openside Ardie Savea leave the field 10 minutes into the second half.

While Savea looked to be clutching his wrist, he was in fact trying to stem a nasty cut and painful dislocation that had him immediately taken to Dunedin Hospital.

But such was the physicality of this match it is surprising more did not follow.

If the Hurricanes were once a one-trick pony, Goodes and their forward pack are developing a stubborn streak under forwards coach John Plumtree.

Their initial attempts to overpower the Highlanders proved futile with the first half ending in a brutal 3-3 stalemate.

Highlanders loosehead prop Brendon Edmonds was unwanted by the Hurricanes this year and he played like a man with a point to prove, frustrating Ben Franks at scrum time and making a nuisance of himself at the ruck.

Fullback Ben Smith was his usual self, seemingly able to stop any type of attack and throw it back two-fold with his kicking and running game.

There were early nerves from both sides as passes were spilled on a regular basis. Hurricanes wing Julian Savea was unusually off his game on a night he ended in the sinbin.

The Highlanders’ defensive speed was often borderline offside but they played the officials perfectly and got away with whatever they could.

As the match ebbed and flowed, the Hurricanes looked frustrated, but they did not blink, hammering away up the middle of the park until Goodes got his reward and a 10-3 lead.

A final assault from the Highlanders saw first-five Lima Sopoaga dive over for his side’s only try to close the margin with only a minute to go and a Fekitoa break from deep threatened to steal the tie.