Super XV Big Match Review - Highlanders 19 - 23 Hurricances

Consistency is a word that we love to talk about in rugby, whether from players or the referee.  I was at a club game a few years ago with my old man, and the match was being refereed by a Mr Chris White.  He gave a penalty against the side we supported, claiming we weren’t rolling away – to which Mr Rucked Over snr – standing close to the action – commented that the opposition had been allowed to get away with exactly the same offence not 2 minutes earlier.  His mate agreed, and bellowed out “Can we have some consistency please, White?”, which was then followed up by my old man’s loud response “Oh, he is consistent alright.  Consistently crap.”  Cue offended look from Chris White, who was standing about 3 metres away.

Consistency is generally regarded as a positive attribute to have though.  It’s what professional athletes strive for – to produce excellence week in, week out, achieving the highest standards on a regular basis.  Of course, there’s another sort of consistency which is not quite such a positive – a losing habit – and that’s something which the Highlanders seem to have picked up.

They started this season with many, including myself, tipping them as dark horses – and why not?  With the likes of Brad Thorn, Ma’a Nonu, Andrew Hore and Hosea Gear in the side, this is a team that has the firepower to match nearly any other in the competition, but it doesn’t seem to be clicking for them at the moment.  On the other hand, the Hurricanes were looking out of sorts early on but came through with a stunning last-gasp win over the Crusaders which set up hopes that perhaps this side might be able to do the business over its rivals, meaning that this game was going to be of critical importance to two sides still trying to find consistency in performance.  Unfortunately, for the Highlanders, the only consistency they were to achieve in this game was the result.

The Hurricanes set the tone for the match by dominating the early exchanges and it was no surprise when they got on the scoreboard first through Conrad Smith.  Slick hands from Julian Savea actually put Brad Shields over the line, but an unbelievable scramble defence hauled him back the other way before he could get the ball down.  The mini-victory was short lived though, as off the next phase Smith snaked his was over from 3 metres to touch down for a try, with Beauden Barrett missing the conversion.

Colin Slade added two penalties as the Highlanders began to ease themselves into the game, with Hosea Gear prominent, although they weren’t helped by the influential Andrew Hore being forced to leave the field due to injury.  The lead didn’t last for long though as the Hurricanes snapped up a half-charged-down kick to swing the ball out to the left, where Victor Vito added a great injection of pace before feeding Ben Franks, who smashed through Ben Smith to score in the scorner, with Barrett nailing the kick.  The Highlanders grabbed a score of their own though on the cusp of half time when Gear waltzed straight through a flimsy effort from Barrett (to be fair though, I think my effort to stop Gear in full flight would involve adopting the foetal position), which gave Slade an easy conversion to take the hosts into a 13-12 halftime lead that their possession percentage of 61% would suggest they deserved.

Slade re-opened the scoring with another penalty after the break, but the Hurricanes took control through the bulldozing figure...of their scrum half, Anthony Perenara.  The feisty little 9 smashed and wriggled his way through four tackles, including 2 of the Otago side’s back row, to touch down on the left.  Barrett converted, before adding a further two penalties to one from Slade to leave the score at 23 – 19 to the visitors.  Both sides had chances to score, with Jason Emery – who had a fine debut – going close for the home side, but it was to prove to be another loss for the Highlanders.  That’s now 3 on the bounce – and that’s a difficult habit to shake.

What else was going down in the Southern Hemisphere last weekend?

Waratahs 26 – 27 Cheetahs:  The Tahs slipped to a frustrating one point defeat by the impressive Cheetahs, who have now won both their tour games.  The visitors got off to a great start with tries from Robert Ebersohn and Raymond Rhule, before the hosts clawed their way back with Peter Betham and Adam Ashley-Cooper going over.  Rhule scored a key try in the second half though to nick the game for the South African outfit.

Kings 24 – 35 Chiefs: The Chiefs continued their impressive start with a bonus point over stubborn new boys, the Kings, on Friday night.  Sergeal Petersen and Jacques Engelbrecht scored tries for the hosts, but they were undone by a Lelia Masaga hat-trick and a Sam Cane effort.

Crusaders 41 – 19 Bulls:  The Crusaders finally kick started their season with a thumping home win over the Bulls.  The Crusaders scored six tries through (deep breath) Robbie Fruean, Kieran Read, Johnny McNicholl, Tom Marshall, Wyatt Crockett and Willi Heinz, whilst the visitors could only get one solitary try through Deon Stegmann.

Reds 12 – 19 Force:  The Force won for the first time ever away to the Reds in a shock reversal for the Queensland team.  Alfi Mafi scored the only try of the game when he touched down for the visiting side, with Quade Cooper’s boot providing the only response for the hosts.

Sharks 10 – 29 Brumbies: The Sharks went down to a surprise home defeat largely thanks to an inspired first half from the Brumbies.  The visitors had grabbed  a bonus point before the interval with scores from Jesse Mogg (again), Joe Tomane, Matt Toomua and Henry Speight, whilst the Sharks eventually scored in 2^nd half through Ryan Kankowski.  The Brumbies are now flying and proudly sporting a 100% record.