Rugby: Cheetahs upset Hurricanes

Robert Ebersohn of the Cheetahs runs at the Hurricanes defence during the round six Super Rugby match between the Hurricanes and Cheetahs. Photo / Getty Images.

Hurricanes 38
Cheetahs 47

Despite only having one win from their previous 17 outings in New Zealand, the Cheetahs upset the Hurricanes 47-38 at Westpac Stadium in Wellington tonight.

The South African-based franchise, who played in the competition in 1997 when it was known as the Super 12 but dropped out before returning in 2006, have traditionally struggled on the road.

Their last win on these shores was against the Highlanders in 1997 and they could only boast a draw previously to go alongside their 15 losses, until tonight.

In a frenzied game that was high on action but low on defence, the Cheetahs ran in seven tries to record an unlikely win.

The Hurricanes, playing in front of a home crowd of 11,783, led by as many as 21 points during a crazy first-half, which saw a combined 64 points scored.

The Hurricanes, who despite their youthful team have defied the early season critics, came in to the game in sixth spot on the overall standings with three wins from their first five games.

They were dealt two injury blows during the week, with regular No 8 Victor Vito succumbing to a calf strain, while Jason Eaton was a late scratching with a back complaint.

Lower Hutt's Brad Shields was given the chance to start at the back of the scrum in Vito's absence, while Jeremy Thrush slotted in to the second row for Eaton.

Charlie Ngatai and James Broadhurst were also given their first starts of the season for the home side after producing a string of impressive cameos from the bench during the opening five rounds.

Shields' night was cut short however after the big loose forward didn't return for the second half due to a shoulder injury and he was replaced by Jack Lam.

Beauden Barrett, who scored 23 points, broke the record for the most points by a Hurricanes player against the Cheetahs as the Taranaki pivot surpassed Dan Kirkpatrick's 18 he racked up in Bloemfontein last year.

But, crucially for the Hurricanes, Barrett missed a relatively straight-forward penalty in the 66th minute and the Cheetahs rebounded shortly after to score and extend their lead to nine points and they never looked back.

The Hurricanes were left to rue the amount of tackles they missed, which gave the Cheetahs a strong platform to work from throughout the game, while the South Africans were also fearless at the breakdown.

The Hurricanes didn't wait long to open the scoring with hooker Dane Coles crossing in only the third minute after he burst through a hole and stepped past the cover defence.

From there it was a procession of tries for both sides, who threw caution to what little wind there was in Westpac Stadium and ran the ball from all corners of the turf.

The Cheetahs, despite their endeavour with ball in hand, entered the contest 14th in the competition, although they only lost by seven points to perennial front-runners, the Crusaders, last weekend in Christchurch.

Young first-five eighth Johan Goosen directed traffic well for the visitors and showed impressive control with the boot and provided sharp goal-kicking.

Perhaps a testament to the attitude the Cheetahs brought to the game was when they twice turned down the chance to kick for goal in the first half and ran the ball and both times they were rewarded with five-pointers.

Cheetahs 47 (Coenie Oosthuizen 2, Andries Strauss, Hennie Daniller, Ryno Benjamin, WP Nel tries; Johan Goosen 4 cons, 3 pens) Hurricanes 38 (Dane Coles, Beauden Barrett, Andre Taylor, TJ Perenara tries; Barrett 3 cons, 4 pens) HT: 32-32