The Hurricanes earned their second victory of the 2016 Super Rugby season by beating the Western Force 41-6 in Palmerston North with a bonus point.
The Hurricanes were made to work for their points in the first 60 minutes of the match before the floodgates opened for the home side.
The victory for the Hurricanes is their eighth consecutive victory over the Western Force.
The Hurricanes scored six tries to nil in perfect conditions at Palmerston North, plundering 31 points in the second half as the Force faded after a promising start.
The early exchanges were a contrast in styles as the Hurricanes’ star-studded backline ran the ball and the Force forwards patiently worked for territory.
The Hurricanes should have had two tries in the first 10 minutes but handling errors let them down and the Force went ahead through a Peter Grant penalty.
Coles, in his first match this season after an injury lay-off, hit back for the Hurricanes in the 25th minute, crossing for a try from a line-out to make it 10-3 at the break.
The gap narrowed to 10-6 soon after the restart and another opportunity went begging for the Hurricanes thanks to Ross Haylett-Petty’s try-saving tackle on Vaea Fifita.
The visitors’ defence finally cracked to allow a second try when James Marshall capped off a sweeping backline move that took the ball the width of the field.
TJ Perenara then put the result beyond doubt with the Hurricanes’ third, set up by a surging run from Willis Halaholo.
It became a rout as the Hurricanes tore apart the tiring Force defence, with Blade Thomson, Ngani Lauampe and Ardie Savea notching five-pointers, the last from a line-out drive.
Next week the Force travel to Hamilton where they will play the Chiefs and the Hurricanes are at home in Wellington for a match against the Southern Kings.
Final Score Hurricanes 41 (10) Force 6 (3)
Scorers
Hurricanes
Tries – D.Coles , J.Marshall, TJ. Perenara, B.Thomson, N. Laumape, A.Savea
Pen – B.Barrett
Con – B.Barrett 4
Drop –
Cards –
Force
Tries –
Pen – P.Grant 2
Con –
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Paul Williams
Assistant Ref 1:Ben O’Keeffe
Assistant Ref 2:Kane McBride
TMO : Shane McDermott
Attendance : 8268
Teams
Hurricanes
15 James Marshall , 14 Cory Jane , 13 Vince Aso , 12 Ngani Laumape , 11 Julian Savea , 10 Beauden Barrett , 9 TJ Perenara , 8 Victor Vito , 7 Ardie Savea , 6 Vaea Fifita , 5 Mark Abbott , 4 Blade Thomson , 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen , 2 Dane Coles (c) , 1 Chris Eves
Replacements: Ricky Riccitelli, Loni Uhila, Ben May, Michael Fatialofa, Callum Gibbins, Jamison Gibson-Park, Willis Halaholo, Jason Woodward.
Western Force
1. Pekahou Cowan , 2. Nathan Charles , 3. Tetera Faulkner , 4. Ross Haylett-Petty , 5. Adam Coleman , 6. Angus Cottrell , 7. Matt Hodgson , 8. Ben McCalman , 9. Alby Mathewson , 10. Peter Grant , 11. Semisi Masirewa , 12. Solomoni (Junior Rasolea) , 13. Ben Tapuai , 14. Marcel Brache , 15. Dane Haylett-Petty
Replacements : 16. Chris Heiberg , 17. Heath Tessmann , 18. Jermaine Ainsley , 19. Sitiveni (Stevie) Mafi , 20. Brynard Stander , 21. Ryan Louwrens , 22. Ian Prior , 23. Albert Nikoro
