Piri Weepu of the Blues lines up a kick during his team's
Super 15 match against the Hurricanes at Westpac Stadium in
Wellington. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Hold on, that wasn't meant to happen.
Sir John Kirwan's Blues provided the first major upset of the
Super Rugby season as they toppled an unimpressive Hurricanes
outfit 34-20 at Westpac Stadium tonight.
Mark Hammett's Hurricanes made life difficult for themselves
throughout the contest as they fell off tackles, dropped the
ball numerous times and generally played with a lack of
cohesion.
Considering the Hurricanes had the lowest player turnover of
any New Zealand franchise heading in to this season it seemed
unfathomable that they could have such little continuity.
Their backs attacked laterally and nobody wanted to play with
any direction, which made it hard for the Hurricanes to find
a rhythm.
Much of the pre-season mail about the Blues suggested they
would play a physical style of game and they didn't
disappoint and when Frank Halai crossed for his second try of
the game in the 76th minute it capped a dream start to the
job for Kirwan.
It was also a nice moment for Halai, who was controversially
sent to the sin bin mid-way through the second half for
batting the ball back over the dead ball line as he and
Julian Savea raced to force the pill first.
Halai's indiscretion gave the Hurricanes a penalty try and a
20-16 lead with just over 20 minutes to play but the Blues
showed the sort of character Kirwan would have been proud of
to claw their way back in to the game.
The opening 40 minutes was indicative of early season rugby
as both sides dropped the ball at regular intervals as the
players battled to get out of first gear.
The Blues started with their expected youthful exuberance and
caught the Hurricanes by surprise with their direct running
through the midfield, while loose forwards Steven Luatua and
Peter Saili carried the ball with authority.
After both sides exchanged early penalty goals wing Halai
ensured the Blues were the first team to cross the chalk when
he crashed over in the 21st minute following some smart work
from George Moala and Rene Ranger.
Halai was highly impressive when he played for the New
Zealand sevens side at Westpac Stadium last year and he
showed he can transfer his skills to the 15s game.
Hurricanes wing Savea wasn't to be upstaged though and he
helped the home side answer back only minutes later when he
finished off a sweeping move in the corner.
Barrett's sideline conversion gave the Hurricanes some
breathing space but a second penalty goal from Weepu ensured
the Blues went in to the half-time break down by only two
points.
During the start of the second spell the Hurricanes barely
got their hands on the ball for the opening 10 minutes and
during that period the momentum began to swing to the
visitors.
Despite Halai's sin-binning the Hurricanes failed to score
any points during the 10 minutes they had an extra man on the
paddock, which summed up their evening.
It's a long competition and one performance doesn't make a
team but Kirwan's Blues showed they will push sides who
underestimate them this year, while the Hurricanes have
plenty of work to do.
Blues 34 (Frank Halai 2, Charles Piutau, Rene Ranger tries;
Piri Weepu 4 pens, con) Hurricanes 20 (Julian Savea try,
penalty try; Beauden Barrett 2 pen, 2 con) HT: 11-13
- Daniel Richardson of APNZ
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