Rugby: Taylor, Jane and Barrett combine

Andre Taylor
Andre Taylor
It was like watching something from a rugby league playbook.

The pivot hits a cross-field kick to a flying wing, who bats the ball back for his teammate to gobble it up and crash over for a try.

Usually it's seen on the last tackle in the NRL but on Saturday night it was the Hurricanes who borrowed the play from the 13-man code and executed it to perfection in their 25-20 Super Rugby victory over the Bulls in Napier.

First-five Beauden Barrett was the architect as he chipped the ball accurately across McLean Park, while Cory Jane went up and knocked it back for fullback Andre Taylor who did the rest.

"You've just got to always run those support lines," Taylor said of the play. "But when the kick went up, [Jane] said 'run my inside' and when a kick like that happens, you've always got to run the inside just in case. It seemed to work, so we've got that good connection."

Due to Jane's knee injury last year and Taylor's indifferent form to start the 2014 campaign, Saturday marked the first time the laidback pair had played in the Hurricanes back three since 2012.

They like to make jokes with each other off the field but on the paddock they have an understanding and Jane's absence last year hurt Taylor as his game became cluttered and he struggled to hit the lofty highs of the previous season.

"I've learned a lot off CJ in all my years in the Canes," Taylor said. "To have him out there, he keeps me level-headed and he's always got his side of the field covered, which makes my job a lot easier and he can read plays well and give me cues."

Despite making a slow start to the campaign as the Hurricanes dropped their first three games and stuttered to another loss against the Highlanders in week six, Taylor said they felt a change was coming.

"We always said to ourselves that if we stuck to our gameplan that it would connect and we'd start playing some good footy."

Flashy plays from the backs aside, the Hurricanes forward pack were impressive on Saturday as they wore the Bulls down.

Barrett also kicked a perfect seven from seven, including a long-range penalty with only a few minutes left to put them back in front as they picked up their second big victory in as many games after they trumped the Crusaders last week.

"It was a great win because it was tight and we had to hang in there at some stages," Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett said.

"In general, the character was great."

Loosehead prop Ben Franks came from the field in the first half with a sore groin, which was the only minor injury concern for the Hurricanes.

Given Hammett's side have the bye this week, Franks will rest up with an eye to meeting the Blues when the Hurricanes return to action at the Cake Tin on Good Friday.


Hurricanes 25 (Andre Taylor try; Beauden Barrett 6 pen, con) Bulls 20 (Jurgen Visser, Handre Pollard tries; Jacques Louis-Potgieter 2 pen, con, Pollard con) Halftime: 16-13


- By Daniel Richardson of APNZ in Napier

Add a Comment

OUTSTREAM