Canes add to Waratahs' woes

Updated June 02, 2012 22:17:48

New South Wales slumped to its sixth straight defeat after going down 33-12 to the Hurricanes in the wet at Sydney Football Stadium.

It was the Waratahs' 10th loss in total for the season, the hosts going tryless while the Hurricanes managed four through Julian Savea, Motu Matu'u, captain Conrad Smith and Chris Eaton.

Eaton's try gave the Hurricanes a vital bonus point and they slot into third place on the New Zealand conference standings and remain in the hunt for a wildcard berth for the play-offs.

Waratahs fly half Berrick Barnes, who provided the hosts with their only points via four penalty goals, admitted poor defence helped the Hurricanes to their victory.

"I wish I knew the answers," he told Grandstand.

"It's just been a frustrating year and tonight didn't get any better I suppose. In our attack we created some opportunities, there was just too much dropped ball but our defence hurt us tonight.

"That was poor, 33 points, we're a lot better than that."

Barnes says the Waratahs need to use the late-season break to go back to the drawing board.

"We've got a month off now to try and rectify things and finish the year on a positive with two games," he said.

Smith praised his side's performance, feeling it displayed the Hurricanes' greater maturity this season.

"That's a huge effort," he said.

"We've played some good footy when we've had front-foot ball and things were all going our way.

"But I knew tonight was going to be different, even if it didn't rain, and then the rain just added to it, so tonight was just about grinding it out and that takes a lot of character.

"Maybe at the start of the year we may not have been able to play in conditions like that but the team has really grown and that was a great win for us."

The Waratahs dominated possession and territory, particularly in the second half with their pack finally giving them momentum, and dominating the set piece, but could not crack the Hurricanes' defence and made numerous handling errors.

Matu'u's try came after another Waratahs turnover while on attack and pressure from a kick chase gave the Hurricanes some rare field position in the second half.

Smith scored with just over 10 minutes remaining to silence the modest crowd.

Eaton grabbed the bonus-point try right on full-time after the visitors got a penalty at halfway and kicked into the corner to set up an attacking line-out, from which the replacement half-back was able to burst over.

Julian Savea's try was the highlight of an error-strewn first half, in which the wet conditions denied the crowd any chance of witnessing a display of free-flowing rugby.

Barnes slotted three first-half penalties for the home side. Hurricanes fly half Beauden Barrett converted Savea's try and slotted two penalties to give the visitors a 13-9 lead at the break.

Barnes added an early second-half penalty for the Waratahs, but the home side squandered far too many opportunities, with audible sighs of exasperation from the crowd evident towards the end of the match.

Hurricanes: 33 (J Savea, M Matu'u, C Smith, C Eaton tries; B Barrett 2 cons, 3 pens)

Waratahs: 12 (B Barnes 4 pens)

ABC/Reuters

Tags: rugby-union, super-rugby, sport, sydney-2000

First posted June 02, 2012 21:22:10

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Canes' Smith breaks Blues' hearts

Updated March 23, 2012 21:25:28

A last-minute try to captain Conrad Smith and some ice-cool kicking from five-eighth Beauden Barrett gave the Hurricanes a hard-earned 26-25 Super Rugby win over the Blues at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday.

It looked like the boot of Blues full-back Lachie Munro and a dominant Auckland scrum would prove too much for the Hurricanes, who conceded far too many second half penalties and appeared to have thrown the game away after an excellent free-running first half.

Munro punished the mistakes, missing just one kick all night in slotting six penalties and a conversion to push the Blues out to a 25-19 lead with less than a minute remaining.

But the Hurricanes kept running, and Barrett sliced through the midfield as the final seconds ticked away, off-loading for skipper Conrad Smith to touch down close to the posts.

Barrett calmly added the extras, and the new-look Hurricanes picked up their third win from five matches.

"They did really well out to shut us out and nine times out of 10 they would have ended it," Smith said in a post-match interview.

"We've got weaknesses, we're the first to admit it (but) we're patient and we wait for opportunities."

They started slowly but finished the first half with a 19-16 lead, jolted into action after conceding a try to ex-Hurricane and All Blacks midfielder Ma'a Nonu after 15 minutes.

Nonu was unstoppable from five metres out after a strong bullocking run from former Hurricanes half-back Piri Weepu, running the Blues backline from five-eighth.

Two minutes later, Hurricanes wing Julian Savea carved up the midfield before slipping a beautifully timed pass for full-back Andre Taylor to cross.

Wing Cory Jane added the Hurricanes' second after Munro bumbled Taylor's searching kick ahead.

The full-back chased hard, forced the turnover then Jane showed good strength to fend off Weepu and score in the corner.

Smith stole the half-time lead for the Hurricanes when he crossed in the dying seconds of the first half after toeing ahead a sly Tim Bateman through-kick.

The Blues maintained their composure in the second stanza, aided by Weepu's shift to scrum half in place of Alby Mathewson and the return of Michael Hobbs to first fly half, but slipped up with a heart-breaking defensive lapse right on the final whistle.

"We're devastated, we're just making a habit of losing," Blues skipper Daniel Braid said.

"A lot of effort's going in from the boys, we're trying hard but we're just lacking composure."

Hurricanes: 26 (C Smith 2, C Jane, A Taylor tries; B Barrett 3/4 conversions)

Blues: 25 (M Nonu try; L Munro 1/1 conversions, 6/7 penalty goals)

AAP/wires

Tags: super-rugby, rugby-union, sport, new-zealand

First posted March 23, 2012 19:18:53

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Blues swoop for Canes discard Nonu

Posted July 1, 2011 11:24:00

All Black centre Ma'a Nonu has signed a two-year deal with Super Rugby semi-finalists the Blues after being sensationally dumped by the Hurricanes last month.

The 29-year-old has also signed a two-year deal with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) which locks him into the All Blacks set-up until the end of 2013 while giving him a "sabbatical" to play in Japan.

"I'm happy that I'm continuing my career in New Zealand and would like to thank the Blues for giving me the opportunity to join them," the 56-Test All Black said.

"I was flattered and grateful to receive offers to play for other teams as well but the Blues was the best option for me and my family and I'm really looking forward to joining them next year."

Nonu, along with Hurricanes skipper Andrew Hore, was given his marching orders by coach Mark Hammett despite playing more than 100 games for the Wellington-based side and being considered a certainty for All Blacks coach Graham Henry's World Cup squad.

Having flagged pursuing a lucrative deal overseas after being stung by the dismissal, Nonu will join the Black Rams in Japan's Top League before returning to New Zealand for next year's Super season.

The deal elevates the explosive inside centre into a select group of New Zealand players, including All Black fly half Dan Carter and captain Richie McCaw, who have been given the flexibility to play overseas while honouring their national contracts.

"Ma'a is an outstanding, world-class player who has been committed to New Zealand Rugby for the best part of a decade, and for him to commit further is fantastic news," NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said.

"We have said that we will look to be flexible when it comes to re-contracting our leading players and we think giving him the chance to play in Japan is another example of that flexibility."

The Hurricanes notched only five wins in a dismal season to miss the play-offs and finish ninth in the 15-team standings.

The Blues clash with the Reds on Saturday for a place in the title decider.

-Reuters

Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-14, new-zealand

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