The Hurricanes beat the Melbourne Rebels 35-13 in Round Two of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman at Sky Stadium, Wellington.
The Hurricanes made it two from two in the new tournament, scoring five tries to two in the bonus-point victory against the Rebels at the Cake Tin.
Julian ‘The Bus’ Savea is back with a bang. He bagged a brace with two powerful runs and the tries edge him closer to TJ Perenara’s Hurricanes try-scoring record.
Jason Holland’s men led 14-3 at halftime after dominating the first stanza before pulling away to seal a comfortable 22-point win.
Savea and Billy Proctor both scored under the posts within four minutes of each other while the Rebels were down to 14 players.
The converted tries book-ended a 23rd-minute Matt To’omua penalty.
Melbourne scored twice in the third quarter, but two converted tries from Holland’s men cancelled them out.
Michael Wells scored his team’s first try of the tournament soon after the interval, but Savea’s second try increased the home team’s lead to 21-8 after 55 minutes.
Campbell Magnay pulled a score back before the hour to keep the visitors in the contest. To’omua missed both conversions.
Goosen dotted down five minutes later, Barrett’s fourth conversion opened up a 12-point gap.
Asafo Aumua crashed over to end the game and claim the Hurricanes the bonus-point win. Leger converted.
Rebels frustrate the Hurricanes before two scores give the hosts a deserved halftime lead
The Hurricanes spent most of the first half camped inside the Rebels’ territory, but despite being awarded half a dozen penalties, they could not get on the scoreboard.
Several penalties were kicked to the corner, but the home team could not get their driving maul going and the visitors kept the game scoreless.
Cabous Eloff was yellow-carded after a quarter of an hour into the game, and it proved costly.
The visitors struggled to get out of their half, the pressure mounted, so did the penalties before the defensive line was breached.
The hosts made seven linebreaks to none, but could only convert twice as the visitors stayed in the game.
Eventually, referee Graham Cooper had enough and showed the loosehead prop a card for repeated cynical infringements inside the Rebels’ 22.
The Canes took advantage, scoring twice for a net gain of 11 points. First, Savea intercepted a stray Joe Powell pass and raced away to open the scoring.
To’omua put the Rebels on the board from the tee, but Proctor finished off a Ngani Laumape linebreak after a scrum a minute later.
Laumape set up the score after stepping through two defenders and making a break from halfway.
The centre got brought down, but not before he found the supporting Jonathan Taumateine, who sent Proctor away.
The Australians hung on until the interval thanks to some superb scramble defending.
Melbourne fight back but Canes pull away to claim the points
The Rebels began the second stanza better than the first. They controlled possession as they searched for a first Super Rugby Trans-Tasman try.
It eventually came when the Rebels finished a sublime attack.
Wells scored in the corner from a scrum, the Rebels went nine phases, getting over the advantage line, keeping the hosts reeling before the Canes ran out of defenders.
Goosen came close to scoring, but Julian Savea had a brace after the next attack.
The Bus took Proctor’s deft offload following the centre’s linebreak to go one try behind the great Christian Cullen in the Wellington franchise’s all-time try scorers’ list.
The try came from Du’Plessis Kirifi’s magnificent counter-ruck at the breakdown to win the turnover.
Magnay beat several defenders from close range following Powell’s quick-tap penalty to make it 21-13.
However, the Hurricanes blew the Aussies away when Goosen and Aumua scored to seal the bonus point.
Leger’s pin-point crossfield kick landed in the grateful Goosen’s arms, while a length of the field counter-attack was finished by Aumua.
Final Score: Hurricanes 35 (14) Rebels 13 (3)
Scorers
Hurricanes
Tries – J. Savea (2), Proctor, Goosen, Aumua
Pen –
Con – J. Barrett (4), Leger
Drop –
Cards –
Rebels
Tries – Wells, Magnay
Pen – To’omua
Con –
Drop –
Cards – Eloff (Yellow, 15′)
Match Officials
Referee: Graham Cooper
Assistant Ref 1: Paul Williams
Assistant Ref 2: Angus Mabey
TMO: Greg Newman
Teams
Hurricanes
15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Orbyn Leger, 9 Jonathan Taumateine, 8 Devan Flanders, 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 Reed Prinsep, 5 Scott Scrafton, 4 James Blackwell, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Dane Coles (captain), 1 Xavier Numia
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Pouri Rakete-Stones, 18 Alex Fidow, 19 Liam Mitchell, 20 Brayden Iose, 21 Gareth Evans, 22 Cam Roigard, 23 Lolagi Visinia
Rebels
15 George Worth, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Campbell Magnay, 12 Matt To’omua (captain), 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Carter Gordon, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 Joshua Kemeny, 6 Michael Wells, 5 Trevor Hosea, 4 Robert Leota, 3 Cabous Eloff, 2 Jordan Uelese, 1 Cameron Orr
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Ross Haylett-Petty, 20 Richard Hardwick, 21 James Tuttle, 22 Stacey Ili, 23 Frank Lomani
