Rugby: Free-scoring Canes take Rebels

Julian Savea of the Canes scores last night. Photo / Getty Images

Hurricanes 66
Rebels 24

The tries flowed and the defence leaked last night in Wellington as the Hurricanes scythed through a Rebels unit that looked more concerned with their laundry bill than the Super Rugby table.

The visitors' defence needed Google maps for directions. What made it more astonishing was that such a performance came from a team that beat the Crusaders a fortnight ago. The Hurricanes didn't exactly clock up the grass stains either. In culinary parlance, it was more fast food than Masterchef. There was the instant gratification of running rugby into bus-sized gaps but the flipside was little real sustenance as the teams contemplate one more week before the late-season break.

It was the equivalent of basketball without blocking, football without a goalkeeper or cricket without fielders.

The points leapt in regular multiples of seven. There were 12 tries in total (most near the posts). That included seven in the first half alone where the Rebels missed 13 tackles to the Hurricanes' four. The Hurricanes had the four-try bonus point after half an hour. Roll on test matches where defence plays more of a critical role. The Hurricanes' record win takes them to 40 points; still within striking distance of the top six. At times the contest looked like a minimum-contact training run but that's not to detract from some scintillating Hurricanes attacks. The back three of Andre Taylor (he returned to the top of the try-scoring charts for the time being with 10), Alapati Leiua and Julian Savea scored seven tries between them as the inside backs eased them into blue-chip opportunities.

The pairing of TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett might be youthful but showed their class throughout. Barrett's decision-making - be it taking the ball to the defensive line, tactical kicking or passing at the last second - was crisp. He again proved his invitation to the 35-man All Blacks camp was justified.

In contrast, how TJ Perenara missed out on that squad and Piri Weepu didn't is perplexing. The timing of Perenara's swift passes to his outsides, his use of grubber or wiper kicks to keep the Rebels demoralised and his ability to match the opposition with physicality at the tackle must have had past All Black halfbacks rocking in their armchairs. Perenara even boasted a backflip pass for Tim Bateman who flicked the ball to Taylor to score early on.

Defence was an added bonus but flankers Jack Lam and Faifili Levave were uncompromising, even if the latter got bounced off by Cooper Vuna in the first of his brace of tries. Replacement hooker Motu Matu'u also knows how to crush his foes.

The result will have left Wallabies coach Robbie Deans little the wiser as to how Kurtley Beale might go in the upcoming internationals at first-five. There were minimal set-piece opportunities and Beale had little room to work as Hurricanes loose forwards monstered him from the inside channel.

He drifted and the backline lost momentum. Still, if a forward pack produces front foot ball, his skills could come into their own in the probable absence of Quade Cooper.

Hurricanes 66 (A. Taylor 2, A. Leiua 2, J. Savea 3, J. Lam, C. Eaton tries; B.Barrett 9 cons, pen) Rebels 24 (C. Vuna 2, A. Freier tries; K. Beale 2 cons, pen R. Kingi con). Halftime: 38-17.