Crusaders survive late trouble to top Hurricanes in Wellington

The Crusaders beat the Hurricanes in Wellington. Photo / Photosport

Crusaders 31

Hurricanes 24

Threatened with a late collapse against the Hurricanes in Wellington, the Crusaders held firm.

A comfortable win looked likely when they led 31-10 with 15 minutes to play on Friday night. They had controlled most of the contest, and it seemed just a matter of managing the game to the final whistle.

However, the hosts began to claw their way back into it through No 8 Peter Lakai’s 65th-minute try, before two yellow cards for the visitors in the final 11 minutes left them in a precarious position.

They weren’t helped by a couple of errors and penalties that welcomed the pressure on to them, but their defence was immense to close out a good 31-24 win.

“[It took] everything but the kitchen sink, I think. Honestly, we were holding on for dear life, down to 13, the Hurricanes came with ... momentum at the end there, at home; it’s the nature of the competition at the moment, it’s tough,” Crusaders fullback Will Jordan told Sky Sport.

“I’m proud of our forward pack for getting a stop at the end there and getting the job done. We’ll learn a lot from that.”

While they came away with the points, the Crusaders will be sweating over the fitness of captain David Havili, who left the field with an injury around the 30-minute mark and did not return to the contest.

There were nervous times at the end for Rob Penney’s side, but there was also plenty to like.

Lock Scott Barrett, who spoke this week about his poor form lately, was strong throughout not only in his core roles, but in playing an important part in two of the Crusaders’ five tries. The lineout functioned well for the most part, and even on the odd occasion when things went wayward they landed favourably for the visitors.

For the Hurricanes, it’s a case of coming up just short in a season that is slowly starting to get away from them.

While they started the stronger of the two, opening the scoring through Peter Umaga-Jensen, mistakes were costly and they allowed the Crusaders to take over.

Trailing 24-10 at halftime, they left themselves a tough task in the second half and while they lifted, it wasn’t enough.

Now with eight games to their credit this season, the Hurricanes have a 3-5 record with four losses in their past six games. Of their losses, five have been by fewer than 10 points, with three by seven points or less.

“I’m kind of running out of things to say, to be honest,” Hurricanes captain Du’Plessis Kirifi told Sky Sport.

“Well done to the Crusaders. They’re a quality outfit and they had a tough year last year, so to see them going the way they’re going this year is a testament to the hard work they put in, so well done to them.

“We left it too little too late. We were our own worst enemy in the first half. A couple of little errors, they’re good enough to make us pay. It was a much better second half, but too many mistakes again.”

Crusaders 31 (Ioane Moananu 2, Tamaiti Williams, James O’Connor, Chay Fihaki; Taha Kemara 2 cons, O’Connor con)

Hurricanes 24 (Peter Umaga-Jensen 2, Peter Lakai tries; Riley Hohepa con, pen; Callum Harkin 2 cons)

HT: 24-10