Rugby: Canes rain on Chiefs' parade

Meatloaf summed it up best in a song - two out of three ain't bad as the Chiefs lost the last of their three pre-season games to the Hurricanes 23-19 last night.

The only fireworks at Owen Delany Park came from Mother Nature herself as thunder and lightning welcomed about 500 spectators before the game.

It was the action on the field the crowd came to see and they weren't too disappointed, with the Chiefs looking to put phase after phase together and rumble it down the field. However, the home side couldn't finish it off and eventually the Hurricanes were first to score, 10 minutes into the half from a Beauden Barrett penalty kick 23m out from the Chiefs' line, after they were caught offside at a ruck.

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie will be pleased with his team's play at the breakdown but will have some concerns that his tight five were put under pressure at scrum time throughout the match.

The home side were able to level the scores 16 minutes later when Aaron Cruden kicked a 40m penalty in difficult conditions after the Hurricanes were penalised for not binding properly at the scrum.

Cruden would get another chance at almost the exact same spot seven minutes later after the Hurricanes were caught offside at the ruck and again nailed the kick to take the score to 6-3 at the 33 minute mark.

The rain was constant and so was referee Chris Pollock's whistle as he penalised the Chiefs two minutes later for offside 22m out from their goal while the Canes were on attack. Barrett nailed a kick to level the score.

But just before the break Cruden was given an easy kick 22m out from the Hurricanes line and directly out in front of the posts, which he nailed, after the visitors were penalised for collapsing the ruck for the home side to go into the break 9-6.

From the kick-off the Chiefs went to work turning over ball and again used the ruck and maul to grind their way to the line, where the visitors were pinged for offside. The Chiefs elected to scrum instead of the kick. The scrum was solid and Fritz Lee used the base to run a blindside move which opened space for Brendon Leonard to score the first try, to be converted by Cruden.

A break in the rain seemed to signal a turnaround for the Canes who pinned the Chiefs inside their half for 15 minutes. The visitors elected to turn down two opportunities to kick for goal and were rewarded with a try to Jack Lam, converted by Barrett, to take the score to 16-13.

Rennie would have been pleased with his forwards' hustle in the second half as they looked to outmuscle their counterparts at the breakdown and soon found themselves back on attack.

It was obvious the Chiefs had decided the win was important when, at the 25-minute mark, the home side chose to kick for goal instead of running the ball. With it only 25m out and Cruden on fire with the boot it was an easy three points to move the lead out to 19-13.

But the Hurricanes replied shortly after the try with some good old-fashioned, wet-weather rugby, rumbling it up the middle for replacement prop Tristan Moran to go over and Barrett to convert and the visitors to go ahead for the first time, 20-19.

It seemed to boost the visitors and they were soon on attack again and pressuring the Chiefs' line. Barrett was soon in the action again when the Chiefs were penalised for offside and the stocky first-five nailed another penalty to extend the lead to 23-19.

With time up on the clock the Chiefs had a last-gasp chance to win the match when they had a 5m scrum but the ball was turned over and Wellington quickly kicked it out to end the match.

Result: Chiefs 19 (Brendon Leonard try: Aaron Cruden 4 pens, 1 con) Hurricanes 23 (Jack Lam, Tristan Moran tries; Beauden Barrett 3 pens, 2 con) Halftime: 9-6.