The Hurricanes celebrate Ihaia West's match-winning conversion. Photo / Photosport
Down 37-36 with a conversion to win the game, it was up to the boot of Ihaia West to win the Hurricanes' match over the Sharks.
Originally named on the bench, West was called into the starting side in Napier on Friday night after Beauden Barrett was a late scratch due to a tight quad.
He'd had a mixed game, but the stage was set for the Hawke's Bay local to be a hero on his home ground.
Of course, as cool as you like, he slotted it down the middle to steal the win for the hosts.
"To be able to have a finish like that, I suppose you couldn't ask for anything better," West said.
"Our mistakes were letting them into our own end with good pill, you know, with little chip kicks that probably weren't on, unforced errors and we weren't exiting well."
Granted, West was the culprit of committing a few of those mistakes. On two occasions he attempted a dinky little chip kick from inside his own 22 toward the wing. The first led to a try to midfielder Vince Aso, who had to do a lot of work to gather the ball, fend off an opponent and run 60m. The second was cleaned up by the Sharks and ended in a try to the visitors.
It was one of three first-half tries the Sharks scored on their way to a 27-19 halftime lead.
Through the opening rounds of the Super Rugby season, the Sharks had shown they're a second half team. With 110 of their 187 points for the season being scored in the second half heading into the match, they would have liked their chances at the break.
However, for all their efforts, the visitors leave with only a bonus point.
The Sharks' early attack was similar to their namesake – powerful, fast and direct. The visitors' pack battered the Hurricanes defence with some damaging runs. The hosts did well to not allow the visitors to cross the stripe in the first minutes of the match but did conceded a penalty to fall behind 3-0 after five minutes.
The lead lasted all of three minutes.
The Hurricanes backline showed some slick hands inside the Sharks' 22 which led to a Jordie Barrett try.
Ngani Laumape crossed soon after thanks to a beautiful offload from West, but the Sharks hit back almost immediately through midfielder Lukhanyo Am, who bagged a double in the first half.
Through 27 minutes, the tackle count told the story. The Hurricanes had been forced to make 68; the Sharks just 26. The visitors dominated both possession and territory in the first 40 minutes, with 64 per cent of the ball.
The physical battle continued in the second half. While the Sharks had enjoyed scoring points in the second 40 of matches this season, it was their defence that was key as the tackle count evened out.
It looked like the Sharks had secured the win when reserve forward Tyler Paul crashed over inside the final 10 minutes, however a try five minutes after the hooter to Laumape gave the Hurricanes an opportunity to take the win – and West didn't waste it.
Hurricanes 38 (Ngani Laumape 2, Jordie Barrett, Vince Aso tries; Ihaia West 3 pens, 3 cons)
Sharks 37 (Lukhanyo Am 2, Louis Scheuder, Tyler Paul tries; Robert du Preez 4 cons, 3 pens)
HT: 27-19
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