Hurricanes blitz Highlanders with second half storm

9.45pm

HURRICANES 37 HIGHLANDERS 15

A magnificent second half from the Hurricanes left the strong Highlanders by the wayside in tonight's Super 12 rugby match in New Plymouth.

They turned the game on its head after trailing 3-15 in the first quarter and 6-15 at halftime by scoring 31 unanswered points to win 37-15, earning a bonus point as well for scoring a minimum of four tries.

"They were a completely different team in the second half," Highlanders stand-in captain Kelvin Middleton said of the Hurricanes second-half revival.

"I think they did to us what we did to them in the first half."

The Highlanders scored two tries, by winger Seru Rabeni and second five-eighth Paul Steinmetz, by the end of the first quarter.

They recycled the ball quickly and the passing was quick and accurate, which caught the Hurricanes off guard.

The second half was a completely different story after first five-eighth David Holwell kicked his third penalty of the game in just the second minute.

The Hurricanes hit Highlanders full force, adopting the southerners' style of play by blowing the defence off the rucks and moving the ball wide swiftly.

Second five-eighth Ma'a Nonu bust the backline defence twice in a minute to score two converted tries and the Hurricanes were suddenly ahead, 23-15, by the 57th minute.

The Highlanders lost their No 8 and captain Taine Randell and then first five-eighth Tony Brown, who was starting his first Super 12 match this season, but nothing changed despite the presence of fresh legs in the side.

They barely laid their hands on the ball as the Hurricanes' 15-man game across the park killed any hopes of a revival.

The Highlanders' defence on the left was caught short after Kristian Ormsby started the forward momentum through the middle which eventually occupied almost three quarters of the Highlanders team. That allowed winger Lome Fa'atau to cross for the Hurricanes third try.

Flanker Kupu Vanisi popped up the ball close to the line after a series of rucks which depleted the Highlanders defence, allowing Christian Cullen to score the bonus-earning fourth try.

"There's nothing to really crow about yet, we haven't achieved anything," a modest Hurricanes' captain Tana Umaga said.

Tonight's win, their seventh on the trot, however has earned them a semifinal spot. They have a bye next weekend before they take on the Brumbies in Wellington and the Blues in Auckland.

"We're really looking forward to the break, it's come up at the right time for us," Umaga said.

He said the team's discipline in the second half was a significant factor in their revival.

"The boys dug in again, we wanted to keep the ball in hand and get good field positions before we started to think of tries."

Scorers: Hurricanes 37 (Ma'a Nonu 2, Lome Fa'atau, Christian Cullen tries; David Holwell 3 pen, 4 con), Highlanders 15 (Seru Rabeni, Paul Steinmetz tries; Willie Walker pen, con). Halftime: 9-15.

- NZPA