Hurricanes get up in scrappy encounter

Hurricanes 29 Cats 16  

The Hurricanes continued to be Super 14 frontrunners last night while the Cats embellished their reputation as the offshore doormats.

It was a scrappy win for the Hurricanes but captain Rodney So'oialo's devotion to defence sent enough messages to his teammates to create their third-straight win.

Meanwhile the Cats' latest overseas demise - they last won in New Zealand in 2001 - will have them twitching even more about the South African edict to drop the lowest placed side for next year's series.

They never relented but unless the Cats can find some backline crunch outside nippy halfback Enrico Januarie they will struggle to make much impact.

Not that the Hurricanes were much better last night as they struggled to find a bonus point try until the final fortuitous move of the match.

This CakeTin contest was the start of a gruelling five-match stretch for the Cats in Australasia while it was also the first of the Hurricanes' five-straight games against South African sides.

Much of the rugby was average but both teams delivered the sort of heavy defence which may exact a toll in the next few weeks as both teams deal with their itineraries.

The omens for any sort of offshore form reversal for the Cats looked bleak as early as the third minute when Lome Fa'atau scored from a neat Isaia Toeava pass.

Just as quickly, however, the Hurricanes disappeared as the Cats used their monstrous pack to accrue vital setpiece possession and squeeze the locals.

The Cats kept the ball close to their forwards, grinding out the metres and even sneaked a try, their first of this year's series when halfback Januarie beat the blindside defence to send wing

Grant Esterhuizen in for the try.

There was little response from the Hurricanes except some rucking which provoked several push and shove episodes.

The pack failed to go down the middle of the Cake Tin and there was some very lateral and inaccurate passing in the backs.

The lacklustre reaction resembled some of the mixed play from the Hurricanes last week when they were punished by the Force pack.

As the despairing looks mounted on the faces of their coaching staff and loyal fans, the Hurricanes tuned in.

Captain So'oialo ordered a lineout rather than a kick at goal and loosie Chris Masoe plunged through the middle of the drive to score.

The restart was fumbled by the Cats and Fa'atau poached the ball to collect his second touchdown from 50m. A three-point deficit and spluttering Hurricanes progress was suddenly a nine-point lead at the break.

It created the precious momentum for the Hurricanes while it also allowed their coaches to castigate them and threaten selection consequences unless there was an improvement.

Those debates will be mulled over this weekend by the coaching and analytical staff as the team flies to South Africa for their next challenge from the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

A second half where they only outscored the Cats with a final try to Toeava from a bomb, was not the response the Hurricanes wanted. They were sloppy with their decisions, frantic with their moves, they had their composure ruffled by the Cats.

SCORING

Hurricanes (L. Fa'atau 2, C. Masoe, I. Toeava, tries; D. Holwell 2 con, pen, J. Gopperth con)

Cats (G. Esterhuizen, try; E. Rose, con, 3 pen)

Halftime: 19-10.