Brumbies take all five in Wellington

Editor

The Hurricanes slumped to their third defeat in as many games this season on Friday, going down 29-21 to an impressive Brumbies outfit.

The Hurricanes slumped to their third defeat in as many games this season on Friday, going down 29-21 to an impressive Brumbies outfit at Westpac Stadium.

Tries from Jesse Mogg and Robbie Coleman helped the Brumbies to a 15-13 lead at half time before Tevita Kuridrani and Lachlan McCaffrey scored in the second period to secure a deserved bonus-point victory for the visitors.

TJ Perenara touched down for the Hurricanes in the first half and Blade Thomson scored a late consolation try but the home side were unable to match the pace brought to the game by the Brumbies after the interval.

Unlike last week, when they got off to a fast start only to go off the boil against the Force, this time around the Brumbies looked better as they game went on, scoring four excellent tries and impressing with their offloading skills.

For the 'Canes, an already tough start to the season just got worse as hopes of a first win on home soil following their tour to South Africa were dashed but their inability to hold onto the ball for any significant period of time.

Trailing by 3-13 after Perenara's try on the half-hour mark, the Brumbies scored 19 unanswered points to seize control of the game.

Mogg sold a classic dummy after a scrum to score his team's first try five minutes before half time and the full-back was at the origin of Coleman's score out wide just before the break to snatch the lead.

The Brumbies kept the momentum going into the second period, striking soon after the restart as Kuridrani hit a gap following an patient build up to score try number three.

Beauden Barrett's third penalty kept the 'Canes in the game but the knock-out blow came on 70 minutes as replacement Lachlan McCaffrey finished off a brilliant team effort – featuring a break from the ever-dangerous Pat McCabe – in the corner.

Thomson crashed over in the dying minutes following a counter attack but Barrett's conversion attempt was wide to leave the Hurricanes without a losing bonus point.

The scorers:

For Hurricanes:
Tries: Perenara,Thomson
Con: Barrett
Pens: Barrett 3

For Brumbies:
Tries: Mogg, Coleman, Kuridrani
Cons: White 3
Pen: White

Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (c), 12 Cardiff Vaega, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Adam Hill, 5 Mark Reddish, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 John Schwalger, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 19 James Broadhurst, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Alapati Leiua, 23 Marty Banks.

Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Robbie Coleman, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 David Pocock, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Siliva Siliva, 17 Ruaidhri Murphy, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Leon Power, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Andrew Smith, 23 Lionel Cronje.

Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)