Codie Taylor of the Crusaders and Dane Coles of the Hurricanes square off. Photo / photosport.nz
Hurricanes 27
Crusaders 26
On a night where the Hurricanes and Crusaders played out a meaningless game in the context of the points table, departing hooker Dane Coles gave the home fans one last vintage performance.
Coles will retire from rugby at the end of the year, and with the Hurricanes finishing fifth on the ladder, it is unlikely they will get a home game for as long as they last in the playoffs.
But in a game that struggled to find its flow, Coles changed it for the better.
Defensively he was strong, making double-digit tackles and securing an important turnover early in the second half. Never afraid to get under the skin of his opponents, it seemed he made his presence felt against his counterpart Codie Taylor who, not long after a heated exchange with Coles following the turnover Coles secured, gave away a cynical penalty and was sent to the sin bin – Coles walking him off, tapping his head and giving him a spray.
The Hurricanes had struggled to break down the Crusaders’ strong defence despite having almost all the ball in the second half – a reversal of the first half – but the numbers advantage eventually worked in their favour when Cam Roigard crossed.
That made the score 19-15 in favour of the Crusaders, but the Hurricanes were on the charge, and they went on with the job from there, claiming a 27-26 win.
“Colesy certainly showed up tonight,” Crusaders captain Scott Barrett told Sky Sport after the game. “Colesy was at his best.”
It was the Crusaders who got themselves sorted early, dominating possession and territory. They didn’t have to wait long before they opened the scoring, as wing Leicester Fainga’anuku ploughed over from close range.
The Hurricanes defended well in the exchanges following, but on the rare occasion they got the ball in their grasp in the opening 20 minutes, they gave it straight back; several times kicking it out on the full to just pile the pressure back on their defence.
Ultimately, the Crusaders crossed again through Taylor, and when Braydon Ennor scored after half an hour to make the score 19-3, things looked dire for the hosts.
They were set on the right path through Kini Naholo, whose burst up the sideline at least put the Hurricanes in the right end of the field, before they went over through Billy Proctor just on the stroke of halftime.
With far more important matches ahead, Crusaders coach Scott Robertson substituted Sam Whitelock at the break, along with emergency prop John Afoa who put in a couple of good shifts for the injury-hit side.
The game flipped on its head after the break, as the Hurricanes took over. They spent the vast majority of the half in possession and playing at the right end of the field.
The Crusaders defence was strong, though, and it wasn’t until they got a numbers advantage that the Hurricanes managed to take advantage of their play.
A strong try by Josh Moorby nine minutes after Roigard struck put the hosts ahead, with impressive loose forward Brayden Iose scoring five minutes later to extend the lead to eight.
That was enough to see off the Crusaders, who struck with the final play of the game to fall by a solitary point.
Importantly, there were no obvious injury concerns during the match and the sides will now turn their attention to games that matter with the knockout stages getting underway next week.
Hurricanes 27 (Billy Proctor, Cam Roigard, Josh Moorby, Brayden Iose tries; Brett Cameron 2 cons, Jordie Barrett pen)
Crusaders 26 (Leicester Fainga’anuku, Codie Taylor, Braydon Ennor, Chay Fihaki tries; Richie Mo’unga 3 cons)
HT: 8-19
The All Blacks star made a brief appearance at his new club.