Super Rugby champions the Hurricanes surged to a 61-7 bonus point victory after scoring seven second half tries at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
The Hurricanes victory extends their unbeaten run at home in Wellington to 12 straight wins which started with a victory over the Reds in May last year.
The Hurricanes outscored the Cheetahs by 9 tries to one in the match with a hat-trick of tries being scored by Vince Aso.
The Hurricanes outscored the Cheetahs by 40 points to nil in the second half.
The Cheetahs loss is their ninth straight loss this season and puts their record at played 12 and won two.
The Hurricanes victory is their ninth from eleven matches and moves them back into second place in the New Zealand Conference ahead of the Chiefs.
The Hurricanes score is their biggest winning margin, their highest ever total against their South African rivals and they have equalled their own record in try scoring for a single season.
The match had a slow start in terms of scoring as the first points came in the 16th minute whe Vaea Fifita crossed the line for the first try.
Three minutes later Ngani Laumape set up Vince Aso for the first of his three tries and it started to look ominous for the Cheetahs.
However Fred Zeilinga ducked under TJ Perenara’s tackle and scored the Cheetahs one and only try which with the conversion got the visiting side back into the game.
Ardie Savea scored for the hosts just before half time to give the hosts a s21-7 lead at half time.
The Cheetahs needed to score first after the break but instead they lost Elandré Huggett to the sin bin and the Hurricanes capitalised on the extra numbers.
Aso crossed for his second and tries from TJ.Perenara, Jeff To’omaga-Allen, Ben Lam, Leni Apisai and another from Aso followed while the hosts kept the visiting side scoreless.
“The forwards would have been disappointed with how they performed last weekend but we were disappointed as backs as well,” said Hurricanes captain T.J. Perenara after the match.
“Our forwards lay a good platform for us and we didn’t get over the line last week.
“This week I think we all did a better job in finishing which was beneficial for us tonight.”
Next week the Hurricanes travel to South Africa to face the Bulls in Pretoria and the Cheetahs take on the Sunwolves in Tokyo.=
Final Score Hurricanes 61 (21) Cheetahs 7 (7)
Scorers
Hurricanes
Tries – V. Fifita, V.Aso 3, A.Savea, TJ.Perenara, J.To’omaga-Allen, B.Lam, L.Apisai
Pen –
Con – B.Barrett 5, O.Black 3
Drop –
Cards –
Cheetahs
Tries – F.Zeilinga
Pen –
Con – F.Zeilinga
Drop –
Cards – E.Huggett (43rd min)
Match Officials
Referee: Nic Berry
Assistant Ref 1:Will Houston
Assistant Ref 2:Ben O’Keeffe
TMO :Ben Skeen
Teams
Hurricanes
Beauden Barrett, Wes Goosen, Vince Aso, Ngani Laumape, Julian Savea, Otere Black, TJ Perenara (c), Brad Shields, Ardie Savea, Reed Prinsep, Vaea Fifita, Sam Lousi, Jeff To’omaga-Allen, Ricky Riccitelli, Ben May.
Replacements: Leni Apisai, Mike Kainga, Loni Uhila, Mark Abbott, Callum Gibbins, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Jordie Barrett, Ben Lam
Cheetahs
Ox Nche, Elandré Huggett, Johan Coetzee,A rmandt Koster, Carl Wegner, Uzair Cassiem, Oupa Mohoje, Henco Venter, Shaun Venter, Fred Zeilinga, Raymond Rhule, Clinton Swart, Francois Venter (c), Sergeal Petersen,C layton Blommetjies
Replacements : Torsten van Jaarsveld,Charles Marais,Tom Botha,Francois Uys,Niell Jordaan,Tian Meyer,Niel Marais,Ruan van Rensburg
