Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Hurricanes punish the Stormers running game
Burger’s quick-tap scuppers last chance
SUPER Rugby’s log- leading Hurricanes blitzed the touring Stormers 25-20 (halftime 25-3) in Wellington yesterday.
The Hurricanes scored three tries during a 14-minute purple patch in the first half to extend their unbeaten run to seven victories while, in their third consecutive defeat, the Stormers’ tactical and personnel flaws were leveraged by a New Zealand opponent.
An ascendancy in the kicking game and in the physical exchanges reinforced a Hurricanes defence that was ranked second at the start of round eight, and the Stormers inflated their rivals’ advantage with a continued commitment to the running and offloading game that led to a 39-21 loss against the Highlanders last week.
Heading into the halftime break, it appeared that the Cape side was on the brink of collapse, and the fight they showed during the final 40 minutes, a period during which they kept the Hurricanes scoreless, was superb.
However, Super Rugby is an elite echelon competition that requires more than just heart from its contenders.
Duane Vermeulen resumed the captaincy from Juan de Jongh, who was a late withdrawal from the match with an ankle injury.
The Stormers may well have left Wellington with nothing to show for their efforts had Vermeulen not stepped in to divert a fourth-quarter penalty that was headed for the touchline to the uprights – a decision that clinched the loss-margin bonus point.
The reverse is true of Schalk Burger, who reduced the tourists’ chances of completing a fairy-tale comeback when he quick-tapped a penalty deep in Stormers territory with three minutes remaining.
De Jongh’s place in the backline was taken by Huw Jones, and the bulkier outside centre was the only tourist to cross for a try. The remainder of the Stormers points came by way of a penalty-try, two conversions and a penalty from flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis, and the penalty that earned the bonus point from replacement flyhalf Kurt Coleman.
Hurricanes flyhalf Beauden Barrett scored 15 points, kicking two penalties and converting his own try and one from fullback Nehe Milner-Skudder, while supersized winger Julian Savea dotted down.
After a frenetic start, featuring end-to-end broken play, and a tighthead from a powerful Stormers’ scrum, the Hurricanes drew first blood when Burger was penalised at the breakdown in the ninth minute, and Barrett split the uprights.
Another strong effort from Stormers tighthead Vincent Koch, who delivered some dev- astating hits in general play, gave Catrakilis his first shot at goal, and the Stormers’ goalkicking ace converted to level the scores.
Burger gifted Barrett a second shot at goal at the end of the first quarter and the Hurricanes No 10 obliged to put the hosts back in front.
Early in the second quarter, the officiating crew missed a Hurricanes knock- on that would have given the Stormers an attacking five-metre scrum.
The error was compounded moments later when MilnerSkudder collected a Barrett cross- field kick into the tourists’ 22 to score.
In one passage of play, the Hurricanes fullback fended off Catrakilis, beat Nic Groom and shrugged off a scrambling Burger, who accounted for three of the seven Stormers defenders that Milner-Skudder left for dead in the opening half-hour of play.
That number increased to eight with three minutes remaining in the first half when Milner-Skudder jinked past Groom to send Savea thundering over for a try.
The Stormers struck back from the restart, or at least they tried to. Jones broke the line and burst into enemy territory, but the hosts contested the Stormers ruck with impunity – a growing trend among the Cape side’s rivals – and a promising foray turned into a breath-taking, long-range try for the Hurricanes.
Sparked by the turnover, Barrett capped off a 93-metre counter- strike that featured eight passes in an excellent display of handling, decision-making and support from the Hurricanes collective, who jogged off with a 25-3 halftime lead.
The Hurricanes may have been tempted to dig into the post-game refreshments during the break, but the Stormers weren’t about to throw in the towel. Vermeulen put two penalties out for attacking lineouts and the visitors were only denied access to the tryline by repeated infringements.
Referee Rohan Hoffman put a stop to that 10 minutes after the restart when he rewarded an imposing Stormers scrum with a penalty- try after a routed Hurricanes tight five capitulated in the shadow of their uprights.
The Stormers kept their foot on the gas and controlled territory and possession for the remainder of the third quarter as Vermeulen and Burger led a forwards- only attack that closed in on the tryline through multiple, one-pass phases.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Jones dived over a ruck to dot the ball down, but Hoffman called him back for having played the ball from an off-sides position.
The ref could do nothing to deny Jones two minutes later when the centre ran onto a short pass from Vermeulen out wide to score in the corner.
Catrakilis showed great poise to convert from the touchline to reduce the deficit to eight points (25-17), but Coleman exceeded the feat with six minutes remaining when the replacement flyhalf shrugged off a jeering crowd to bang over a long-range penalty.
There was a glimmer of hope that the Stormers might overhaul a Hurricanes outfit that had clearly opted to sit on their lead in the second half.
But that was snuffed out when a rush of blood to the head saw Burger overlook the opportunity to set up a lineout in enemy territory by quicktapping a penalty deep inside his 22 with less than three minutes remaining.
The Stormers spent those three minutes inching their way to the halfway line before they ran out of steam, and Ruan Botha was isolated at the tackle point to bring an end to the game.