All Blacks hopeful the hero as Hurricanes seal thrilling victory over Chiefs

David Skippers
Brett Cameron Hurricanes SRP 2023 - Alamy.jpg

Hurricanes full-back Brett Cameron takes a shot at goal.

All Blacks hopeful Brett Cameron was the hero as the Hurricanes prevailed in their showdown with the Chiefs, sealing a 20-17 victory in a thrilling encounter in Hamilton on Friday.

As the scoreline suggests, the men from Wellington had to dig deep to secure this result and the match was evenly poised until its dying moments when Cameron slotted a penalty in the 79th minute.

Cameron finished with a 10-point haul as he also succeeded with one other penalty and a couple of conversions after Xavier Numia and Jordie Barrett scored tries.

For the Chiefs, Emoni Narawa and Wallace Sititi crossed the whitewash while Damian McKenzie added two conversions and a penalty.

Click here for scorers

The win means the Hurricanes move into first position on the Super Rugby Pacific standings for the time being but that could change on Saturday if the Blues manage to beat the Crusaders in Christchurch.

The opening exchanges were cagey as both teams were feeling each other out during that period but the visitors suffered a huge setback in the seventh minute when Raymond Tuputupu was sent off after making high contact on Tupou Vaa’i. Tuputupu was initially yellow carded but it was later upgraded to red.

Despite that, the Hurricanes held the upper-hand and midway through the half Numia ran onto a pass from Peter Lakai just outside the Chiefs‘ 22 and set off on a barnstorming run before crashing over for the opening try.

Five minutes later, the Chiefs were reduced to 14 men when Kaylum Boshier received a yellow card for a foot trip on TJ Perenara.

The Hurricanes then increased their lead when Barrett ran onto an inside pass from Josh Moorby before tearing the home side’s defence to shreds and went over for his five-pointer.

That meant the visitors held a 14-0 lead at the interval but the Chiefs made a superb start to the second half when Narawa dotted down inside the first minute after the restart following good work from Anton Lienert-Brown in the build-up.

Another Cameron penalty in the 53rd minute meant the Chiefs were holding a 17-7 lead but the Hurricanes received another yellow card five minutes later after Kini Naholo committed a cynical defensive foul.

Soon after, the Chiefs struck back when Sititi broke off the back of a lineout before crossing for his try and when McKenzie added the extras, the match was evenly poised with the Hurricanes holding a slender three-point lead.

The All Blacks fly-half drew his side level when he slotted a penalty in the 72nd minute before Naholo crossed the whitewash five minutes later but his effort was disallowed after television replaced revealed a knock on from Richard Judd in the build-up.

Despite that setback, the Hurricanes received another chance to secure victory two minutes later when Cameron lined up his shot at goal – after the Chiefs were blown up for a ruck infringement – and he held his nerve to slot the place-kick from 40 metres out.

The teams

Chiefs: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Quinn Tupaea, 11 Etene Nanai-Seturo, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Luke Jacobson (c), 7 Kaylum Boshier, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 3 George Dyer, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Aidan Ross
Replacements: 16 Tyrone Thompson, 17 Jared Proffit, 18 Sione Ahio, 19 Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Rameka Poihipi

Hurricanes: 15 Ruben Love, 14 Josh Moorby, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett (c), 11 Kini Naholo, 10 Brett Cameron, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Brayden Iose, 7 Peter Lakai, 6 Devan Flanders, 5 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 4 Justin Sangster, 3 Pasilio Tosi, 2 Raymond Tuputupu, 1 Xavier Numia
Replacements: 16 James O’Reilly, 17 Pouri Rakete-Stones, 18 Tevita Mafileo, 19 Caleb Delany, 20 Te Kamaka Howden, 21 Richard Judd, 22 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 23 Salesi Rayasi

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Dan Waenga (New Zealand), Mike Winter (New Zealand)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

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Chiefs Brett Cameron