Beauden Barrett penalty wins derby for Hurricanes

A late Beauden Barrett penalty helped the Hurricanes to a 25-22 victory over the Highlanders in their Super Rugby derby in Wellington on Friday.

In a topsy-turvy match, in which the lead changed hands several times, both sides scored three tries apiece with Ngani Laumape leading the way for the Hurricanes with a deserved brace. Their other try was scored by Ben Lam and Barrett finished with a 10-point haul courtesy of two penalties and two conversions.

For the Highlanders, Aaron Smith, Sio Tomkinson and Liam Coltman crossed the whitewash while Josh Ioane slotted a penalty and Marty Banks kicked two conversions.

Barrett’s penalty was the final act of the match after the Highlanders were blown up for illegal play at a ruck.

The win means the Hurricanes provisionally move to the top of the New Zealand Conference standings although that situation could change if the Crusaders – who are now in second place – beat the Chiefs in their encounter in Christchurch.

The Highlanders dominated the early stages of opening half and took the lead in the 11th minute courtesy of Smith’s try. This, after the visiting forwards put huge pressure on their opponents at a scrum and after winning a turnover from the set-piece, the scrum-half crossed for an easy five-pointer.

But despite that try and holding the upper-hand during the next 15 minutes, the Highlanders could not convert their dominance into points. That proved costly as the home side struck back in the 27th minute with a try from Laumape, who ran onto a pass from Liam Mitchell before dotting down.

Barrett added the extras but the Highlanders regained the lead in the 32nd minute when Ioane landed a penalty.

But just before half-time, Laumape crossed for his second try after gathering a cross-field kick from fly-half Barrett, who also added the conversion to give his side a 14-8 lead at the break.

Like the opening period, the Highlanders were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and 10 minutes after the restart Tompkinson intercepted a wayward pass from Beauden Barrett, just outside the Hurricanes’ 22, before dotting down under the posts.

It was all Highlanders for the next 10 minutes with their forwards dominant and they went further ahead when Coltman dotted down on the hour-mark.

But despite Banks’ conversion, which gave them a 22-14 lead, the Highlanders went off the boil in the game’s closing stages and a penalty from Barrett was followed by a well-taken try from Lam, before the All Blacks fly-half sealed his side’s win with the match-winning penalty right at the end.

In other action, the Rebels launched a stunning fightback to beat the Brumbies 29-26 in an entertaining Australian derby in Melbourne.

The Brumbies dominated early on and held a 19-3 lead at half-time but the home side fought back bravely in the second half to clinch the win and, in doing so, retain their 100 percent winning record.

Jack Maddocks scored a brace of tries for the Rebels while Marika Koroibete and Will Genia also dotted down. Their other points came via the boot of Quade Cooper, who added three conversions and a penalty.

Henry Speight, Folau Fainga’a and Rob Valetini crossed the whitewash for the Brumbies and they were also awarded a penalty try, while Christian Lealiifano succeeded with two conversions.