Drama: The Hurricanes left it late
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The Hurricanes needed a controversial try after the final hooter to claim a crucial 28-25 victory over the Chiefs in a pulsating clash at Westpac Stadium on Friday.
The result means that the Hurricanes can still make the play-offs while the Chiefs' second consecutive loss leaves the door open for the Stormers to finish the regular season at the summit of the overall standings.
If the South African side can beat the Rebels on Saturday, they will claim the top spot and with it a potential home final.
The game ended in dramatic fashion as Dane Coles crashed over with the last play of the game and television match official Mike Fraser decided to award the try despite a lack of clear evidence that the hooker had grounded the ball correctly in the middle of a pile of bodies.
It's a decision that will have massive repercussions for the play-offs as the 'Canes provisionally climb to fourth in the overall standings ahead of Saturday's six fixtures.
But perhaps it was a fitting end to a thrilling six-try fixture that deserved a big finish.
The dry conditions were ideal for running rugby but the strong, swirling wind made goal kicking a nightmare and both place kickers struggled at the tee.
Two tries from Julian Savea had helped the Hurricanes to a 18-15 lead at half time but an intercept try from Aaron Cruden around the hour mark looked to have snatched victory for the visitors.
Tawera Kerr-Barlow gave the Chiefs the early lead in controversial circumstances, darting over from five metres out, much to the dismay of the Hurricanes, who felt referee Jonathan Kaplan had obstructed Jason Eaton from tackling the scrum-half.
It didn't take long for the 'Canes to reply though and Savea rounded off a flowing team effort in the corner after Beauden Barrett had put the hosts on the scoreboard with a penalty. Conrad Smith was at the heart of the move, making the initial break before providing the perfect pass a few phases later.
Barrett's conversion attempt was off target but Savea was on hand to score the Hurricanes' second try on 22 minutes from close range. Barrett found the mark this time to give the men in yellow a 15-7 lead.
But the home side hit a major hurdle when Kaplan handed Ben May a yellow card for a late hit on Sonny Bill Williams.
Cruden pulled three points back before Ben Tameifuna bashed his way over the whitewash to level the scores at 15-all following a driving maul with just seconds left on May's sin-bin period.
Cruden was also struggling with the wind and couldn't slot the conversion but Barrett could split the uprights from long range after the hooter to give the hosts a three-point head start at the interval.
It took 17 minutes for the first points to be scored in the second period and they came in unexpected fashion as Cruden intercepted an inside pass from Barrett to cruise home under the sticks and leave himself a simple conversion.
Barrett needed two attempts to add three more points and narrow the gap to just one at 22-21 going into the final quarter but Cruden restored the lead with 15 minutes left to play.
And so it remained in the closing stages with the Hurricanes throwing the kitchen sink at the Chiefs defence in a desperate attempt to keep their season alive.
With time up, Coles dove into the carnage on the edge of the tryline. The debate is set to rage on for many moons over whether he grounded the ball or did so with an illegal second movement...
The 'Canes now face an anxious wait as the Crusaders, Bulls, Sharks and Reds can all still finish above them.
The scorers:
For Hurricanes:
Tries: Savea 2, Coles
Cons: Barrett 2
Pens: Barrett 3
For Chiefs:
Tries: Kerr-Barlow, Tameifuna, Cruden
Cons: Cruden 2
Pens: Cruden
Yellow card: May (Hurricanes - 28th min - late tackle)
Hurricanes: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (c), 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Chris Eaton, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Reg Goodes.
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Brad Shields, 20 Frae Wilson, 21 Tusi Pisi, 22 Jayden Hayward.
Chiefs: 15 Andrew Horrell, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Robbie Robinson, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Kane Thompson, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Craig Clarke (c), 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Mahonri Schwalger, 17 Sona Taumalolo, 18 Michael Fitzgerald, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 22 Tim Nanai-Williams.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Comments
theGadflY says...
i think IRB or whtevr da governin body for rugby refs should take a close look at refrees' perfrmnces.they've been performin awfuly since lately.
Posted 15:52 13th July 2012
new_j4a says...
@D4tress, How close were you to the "Hurricanes final try?" Just interested. I could understand if you disagreed with the TMO since you see pretty much what he sees, but you are disagreeing with Kaplan's decision to send it to the TMO, so you'd have to be sure that you were seeing pretty much what Kaplan was seeing. Thus I assume that you were in a good position? Also, on this point you make "He couldn't even reach the line without a second movement," what Law are you referencing and how do you think it was misapplied? I will watch the game tonight (for the first time) with your post in hand and an open mind, but, if you could be just a bit more specific in your criticisms, we'll all be able to evaluate your contribution a bit better.
Posted 15:35 13th July 2012
APV1 says...
I'm looking forward to watching this later, as it's been recorded and sounds like a cracking match - tries, controversy and right down to the wire.
@ new_j4a - if it's all failed again, what's your favourite tipple, as I'm on my way..?! Hobgoblin? Twisted Spire? Bishop's Finger? Shropshire Lad?
Or Castle..?
Posted 15:26 13th July 2012
papachinzo says...
Great first half, some of the best rugby I've ever seen. too bad the 2nd half was ruined by poor refereeing and sloppy play from both sides. the last try was a joke!!
Posted 15:09 13th July 2012
Rayz says...
For the 2nd straight week in a row the Chiefs deserved to lose the game. Hurricanes showed more desire in wanting to win.
So much was said about the Chiefs scrum dominating the Hurricanes before the game, but in actuality the reverse happened. Tawera Kerr-Barlow had another strong game and was my man-of-the-match for the losing side, although one weakness he's starting to develop is a tendency to run a couple of steps before he passes the ball out to the backs.
As for the Hurricanes, good team effort but Dane Coles must surely take out the man-of-the-match award for the game. He was everywhere (as SBW can attest to) and has most definitely staked his claim for AB consideration.
Posted 14:46 13th July 2012
D4tress says...
I'm a ref myself and a 'Canes fan (when there's no Leinster to watch) but that reffing was a *****-up of staggering proportions - and from a supposedly "top flight" ref!! Start to finish it was a total ****** disaster.
His positioning for the 1st try was so bad it looks like he took Jane out on purpose. Should have been a scrum to the Chiefs - no try.
Smith's yellow is fair enough but he didn't show consistency for the similar time-wasting infractions from the Chiefs later on - should have penalised / carded the players concerned - bad reffing.
SBW (waste of space that he is) should have been carded for that ridiculous tackle on Jane. Bad reffing.
Chiefs should have been carded for consistently infringing at the death when the 'Canes needed >3 to win. There was (IIRC) about 6 penalties to the Hurricanes during those final minutes - all committed as professional fouls since the Chiefs knew the 'Canes couldn't take the points. Terrible reffing.
Hurricanes final try should never have gone to the TMO. There is no way in the world that any ref at any level thought that was a try. He couldn't even reach the line without a second movement, and when he did it was held up. Total abdication of responsibility by Kaplan.
What a terrible, terrible way to ref what could have been one of the best games of the season.
Glad that Rolland is going to be reffing some of the 4N games. Kaplan better watch and learn.
Posted 13:38 13th July 2012
tha_mai says...
new_j4a - depends which side they support! No love between the provinces/franchises.
The yellow card was harsh I doubt Kaplan would have awarded a penalty if he'd seen the tackle clearly - card was as I understand on asst ref's advice. That cost them 3 directly from the penalty, and they scored a try while May was off (but that could have happened anyway).
He was very lax on the scrum calls, didn't favour either side, the 'e' of engage was enough for them to hit and he let play go on when other refs would have re-set or free-kicked.
Posted 13:28 13th July 2012
olepete says...
Still waiting to hear the continuation of last season's abuse of Mark Hammett. What a match!
Posted 13:20 13th July 2012
Wallaroo says...
What a win for the Canes, well done. Although it's not great from an Aussie perspective it was a great spectacle and an incredible game to watch.
Well done both teams for never giving up.
Posted 13:14 13th July 2012
rugbylover says...
I should add - not even..................
Posted 13:09 13th July 2012
rugbylover says...
How wonderfully, typically, crazily characteristic of the Hurricanes.
Winning pointlessly [as they did against the Crusaders] & damaging the prospects of other Kiwi sides, & losing just as pointlessly when they might have helped their own - & those same Kiwi sides.
Typical. They don't need Stuart Dickinson to advance the Reds' cause - they can do it by themselves. At least no-one can claim that there was any collusion in the Kiwi ranks.
Posted 13:08 13th July 2012
new_j4a says...
Actually, since all the fans involved are kiwi, there may not be too much ref bashing
Posted 12:37 13th July 2012
lawynd says...
@muziwn - the ball was shown to be placed on the line and the only thing that could have negated the try at that point was it not actually being grounded; given that there was no evidence that the ball wasn't placed on the whitewash (we all saw the same camera angles the TMO did), the try has to be awarded.
Posted 12:26 13th July 2012
kitch says...
Good game by both teams..good decision from the ref .. if you look closely barlows hand is under the ball right until the second shove stopped.. if anything i felt the chiefs had the rub of the green from the ref for most of the game.
Chiefs first try came via cory jane being taken out while standing at the back of the ruck, thus clearing a path for barlow... the exact same happened in the leadup to sbw try last week where ellis was taken out when he was standing a good meter behind the ruck which again allowed barlow to run through !
Conrad gets marched for kicking the ball away, yet when barlow 3 times picks the ball up ,walks away and doesnt give it to the canes ..caplan doesnt march him!!.. and you see conrad quite rightly not happy with the different treatment
Ben May gets yellow for a so called dangerous tackle (which even marshall said was nonsense!)..yet for a blatant head high from sbw..no penalty!! wtf!!..sbw tackle was far more dangerous!!
Canes scrum goes down once..penalty. Yet in 2nd half cheifs go down twice and hooker gets popped once..no penalties!!
justice prevailed in the end thank goodness!
Posted 12:14 13th July 2012
Herbman says...
I agree that wasn't a try at the end, but it's justice really... that try in the beginning by the chiefs was quite dodgy, and the yellow card was nonsense.
As a Stormers fan I'm very happy though!
Posted 12:11 13th July 2012
bk47 says...
Dear The Force, Lions, Cheetahs and Waratahs Franchises
It would be of the up most appreciation if you can defy all the odds; considering your "mixed results" this season and current position on the Super Rugby table, by winning all of your games and not allowing your opposition to score any bonus points.
Yours Sincerely
A hopeful Hurricanes Fans
.............Dreams are Free
Posted 11:58 13th July 2012
tha_mai says...
regardless of what happens in other games, well done Hurricanes, never thought they'd get to the end of the season with 10 wins. Great leadership from Conrad Smith throughout.
Posted 11:43 13th July 2012
porridge_time says...
That was a hard fought match right to the very end. Both teams attacked and defended well... not convinced it was a try, but hey that's sport for you.
muziwn... not sure what you mean, because the game I saw the Cheifs and the Canes were both trying the hardest to get the much need five pointer. Are you suggesting that the Cheifs held off? If so you really need to chose another sport!
Posted 11:35 13th July 2012
side_stepper says...
Controversy both ways. TKB's try, May's sin binning, Cole's try. Chiefs were unlucky again. Hope the playoff break will get their heads back to winning ways, irregardless of the Stormers game later this week. Bring Asaeli back.
Posted 11:24 13th July 2012
muziwn says...
What a shocking decision can't say m surprised the kiwi's are doing all they can 2 get that 3rd spot 4 the canes. The ball was nowhere near the ground. The chiefs should've never let it come 2 this if they scored when they had the chances ie missed lineouts and scrums when they were deep in the canes 22. If the chiefs better up their socks if they hope to make it past the semi's they have already lost home advantage for the final.
Posted 11:03 13th July 2012