Sunwolves blown away by Hurricanes

THE Wellington Hurricanes outmuscled Japan’s Sunwolves for a 43-15 bonus-point win to take them to the top of the Super Rugby standings at home yesterday.

The Hurricanes notched seven tries to two – including a brace for Vince Aso – although three late efforts gave the scoreboard a lopsided look that did not reflect the Sunwolves’ efforts.

The Japanese team opened the scoring and dominated possession. But captain Pieter Labuschagne said their finishing let them down. “We just couldn’t get over the line but we stuck in there right until the end and gave it our all,” he said.

Hurricanes skipper Brad Shields said his side needed to muster a huge defensive effort before finally unleashing their formidable backline attack. “It was a tough battle and the Sunwolves certainly turned up to play,” he said.

Labuschagne fended off Ardie Savea to score the opening try of the match but the Hurricanes hit back straight away through Julian Savea, who scooped up Matt Proctor’s offload before crashing over for a try. Then debutant Finlay Christie made it two for the hosts when Beauden Barrett set him up, then kicked the conversion to give the Hurricanes a 14-10 lead.

The Sunwolves then came close to scoring, only to concede a try through some sloppy defending just before halftime when eighthman Reed Princep bolted over the line from the back of a scrum. The Hurricanes took control after the restart through Jordie Barrett’s 60m breakaway try.

The Sunwolves had two tries ruled out, both because of double movements. The reward came when Kenki Fukuoka sprinted down the wing to collect Yutaka Nagare’s kick and make it 26-15. But Aso then scored two tries in the dying minutes, which along with a five-pointer to Shields, left the final score at 43-15. —