On a windy Wellington Friday night, the Hurricanes were left wanting more.
A glance at the 34-17 scoreline in their favour against the Waratahs might say otherwise, particularly with the result moving their season record to 3-1, but issues with discipline, errors and turnovers again hamperedtheir overall performance.
It was a similar situation to what played out last weekend in a slim loss to the Blues, where they were on the wrong side of the turnover and penalty counts, and had a mediocre start before surging in the second half.
Perhaps the swirling breeze might have played a factor in some of their issues; both sides trying to attack through their kicking games while also struggling at times under the high ball, before things opened up a bit more in the latter stages.
Although Jason Holland and his coaching staff will have a few areas for improvement from the game, there were several bright spots. They will be proud of their defensive efforts, while Cam Roigard continues his rise. Earning the role as the Hurricanes starting halfback in TJ Perenara’s injury-enforced absence, Roigard has made the No 9 jersey his own.
He put his kicking game to good use in the Wellington weather to relieve pressure on his side, while getting opportunities to show his speed with ball in hand, and continued to show a knack for being in the right place at the right time as he bagged two tries.
He was joined by Kini Naholo, who scored two tries in his debut for the Hurricanes, while first five-eighth Brett Cameron continued to settle nicely back into Super Rugby, and Jordie Barrett and Tyrel Lomax maintained their impressive form.
Devan Flanders of the Hurricanes is tackled by Max Jorgensen of the Waratahs. Photo / Photosport
It was a frustrating start for the Hurricanes as the Waratahs dominated possession early. However it was the Hurricanes who opened the scoring through a Jordie Barrett penalty goal.
The lead lasted mere seconds, as Julian Savea fumbled the restart straight into the path of Nemani Nadolo, who scooped the ball up nicely and would not be stopped from close range.
The Hurricanes shook it off to take the lead into halftime with tries to Roigard and Naholo, and once Roigard scored his second six minutes into the second half, the hosts’ attack began to roll.
Naholo followed him over soon after, before Dane Coles scored from the back of a lineout drive to put a stamp on a dominant second half.
The Waratahs wouldn’t go away, and after impressive No 8 Langi Gleeson picked off a Barrett pass to run away and score the visitors had a faint glimmer of hope.
They threatened the Hurricanes’ line several times in the dying stages, but the hosts’ defence held strong – much like it did in the early exchanges – to see them close out a 17-point win.
Hurricanes 34 (Cam Roigard 2, Kini Naholo 2, Dane Coles tries; Jordie Barrett 3 cons, pen)
Waratahs 17 (Nemani Nadolo, Max Jorgensen, Langi Gleeson tries; Ben Donaldson con)
