Hurricanes snatch victory

Jimmy Gopperth, left, scored all the Hurricanes points, including a last-minute drop goal. Picture / Fotopress

Kicking dominated the Super 12 clash between the Stormers and the Hurricanes tonight, which ended 12-9 to the Wellington side.

The Hurricanes sealed the win with a last minute drop goal by Jimmy Gopperth.

Until then every point had come from penalties in a match affected by difficult, wet conditions in Palmerston North.

Neither side deserved to win an error strewn match at Arena Manawatu, but the Stormers could feel especially aggrieved after leading for large portions of the match.

The Hurricanes were fortunate in the end to pocket the four competition points.

Their supporters may argue that good teams win when playing badly but it is difficult to describe the Hurricanes as such based on tonight's performance when their scrum was placed under enormous pressure by the large Stormers forwards.

The two combatants defended stoutly but neither team threatened the tryline, with Gopperth contributing all his team's points while the Stormers relied on the goalkicking of their first five-eighth Chris Rossouw.

The first half was a messy affair, not helped by heavy rain which swept the ground throughout the opening quarter.

Neither team stamped their authority on the contest, with handling errors and constant ruck and maul infringements leading to a stop-start affair.

The teams were left to trade penalties, with the Stormers earning their 6-3 halftime advantage courtesy of two penalties from Rossouw to one kicked by Gopperth.

The Hurricanes were reduced to 14 men for the closing 10 minutes of the spell when flanker Ben Herring was sinbinned for repeat infringing at ruck time.

The Stormers could not take toll of their numerical advantage, adding only the second of Rossouw's penalties during Herring's absence.

The only movement of promise during this period came unstuck when Jean de Villiers found a hole and chipped ahead only to trip over the feet of Hurricanes halfback Isaac Boss, an incident Australian referee George Ayoub ruled as accidental rather than a premeditated act on Boss' part.

- HERALD ONLINE STAFF, NZPA