Hurricanes 38
Crusaders 31
Not every win is going to be pretty.
And while they have had wins where they scored more tries and won by bigger margins, few this season will be as satisfying as Friday night’s 38-31 win over the Crusaders.
In a game where both teams had their issues, the Hurricanes got the better of things on the scoreboard in a proper battle with their South Island rivals.
For both, backing up after points was a bit of an issue as penalties and errors opened the door for the opposition to get back into things.
Coming into the contest, the battle of the openside flankers was one many fans had on their radars with Crusaders hybrid Leicester Fainga’anuku and All Blacks loose forward Du’Plessis Kirifi squaring off.
And in the early going, that head-to-head match-up came to the fore.
The two number sevens scored the first two tries of the game. First, Fainga’anuku punched his way over from close range after a strong passage from the visitors, before Kirifi scored a similar try about 13 minutes later.
Both were heavily involved at the breakdown, too, with Fainga’anuku nabbing a couple of turnovers in the first half while Kirifi was pinged by the referee for a couple of penalties in that area before getting a critical turnover in the second half.
The kicking tactics were a factor for much of the contest as the two sides battled for territory, with plenty of contestable box kicks hoisted into the night sky.
The hosts were able to get on a bit of a roll as the clock ticked towards the break and they were rewarded with a couple of tries just before halftime to hold a comfortable lead.
But just as they did in the first half, the Crusaders came out of the blocks flying and closed the gap when halfback Noah Hotham deceived two defenders with a little shimmy before scooting away to score with ease.
Again, the hosts hit right back when replacement hooker Raymond Tuputupu came storming onto the ball and through a gap in a stretched Crusaders’ defence from about five metres out. He bumped off a tackle and planted the ball with authority.
It felt at that point that the Hurricanes might kick on from there, but they continued to allow the Crusaders to find their way back into the contest.
A try to replacement first five-eighths Rivez Reihana closed the gap once more, but Hurricanes winger Fehi Fineanganofo, who had been kept very quiet for 60 minutes of the match, scored from a flat pass back on the inside. The play was checked for a possible forward pass, but it was deemed not to be clear and obvious so the on-field decision of try stood.
Not to be outdone, the Crusaders scored a questionable try of their own to set up a grandstand finish. A well-timed intercept from fullback Johnny McNicholl turned a promising Hurricanes attack into a strong Crusaders counterattack, which ultimately ended with replacement loose forward Dominic Gardiner scoring under the posts from close range.
There were questions around the grounding, but the referees were happy enough to not check it and the Crusaders had some hope left.
However, the Hurricanes did enough to close out the win; a David Havili crossfield kick behind the defensive line going wrong and allowing the Hurricanes to tidy up and kick the ball out to end it.
Hurricanes 38 (Du’Plessis Kirifi, Josh Moorby, Cam Roigard, Raymond Tuputupu, Fehi Fineanganofo tries; Ruben Love 5 cons, pen)
Crusaders 31 (Leicester Fainga’anuku, Noah Hotham, Rivez Reihana, Dominic Gardiner tries; Taha Kemara con, pen, Reihana 3 cons)
HT: 24-10