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KEY POINTS:
Hurricanes 22
Highlanders 17
For some reason, Ma'a Nonu was left on the bench for the opening half of the Hurricanes' scrappy victory last night.
When the midfielder was freed from that inactivity, he split the game open immediately and created some memorable patches of Super 14 rugby. Nonu was at the hub of the action, throwing accurate passes and pressing the defence, and from one burst offloaded for wing David Smith to slide over.
The Hurricanes had a one-man advantage during that period because Adam Thomson was in the sin bin as the final culprit spotted by referee Vinnie Munro under a team warning. However, when the All Black flanker returned with his team 0-10 behind, their fortunes altered.
First five-eighths Daniel Bowden won a 50m sprint to a loose ball and the television match official's verdict for a converted try which seemed to give the visitors' some extra verve. They cashed in on that verve soon after.
Piri Weepu and Tamati Ellison got into a shocking muddle under a seemingly innocuous bomb and Highlanders' No 8 Steven Setephano surged off to the tryline while the two defenders discussed their embarrassment.
Those blushes were spared four minutes from time when Jason Eaton scored from a drive then Conrad Smith repeated from the kick-off. In those few minutes the Highlanders suddenly making made more defensive blunders than they had in the rest of the match.
Those who braved the squally conditions and spent their entertainment money on going to the match at the Cake Tin must have questioned their decision at half-time. There had been very little rugby played between the stoppages and episodes of forceback as neither side seemed to trust their ability to hold possession for long periods.
Slippery conditions were a recipe for errors, uncertainty and an inability to deliver many phases of any substance.
The early stages of the game resembled an untidy Torvill and Dean practice session rather than a strong rugby contest.
Players slipped and skated on the surface, looked nervous about trying anything expansive and resorted to kicking the dimples off the synthetic surface on the matchballs.
It was wet-weather conservatism and perhaps a reflection that this was a contest between two first-round losers.
The Highlanders created the two best chances of a scruffy first half with a couple of breaks through midfield. Kendrick Lynn's sortie allowed them to shift the ball wide from the next passage of play where Israel Dagg was claimed and halted short of the line.
Johnny Leota then made a clean break but wasted the chance when he threw his pass over the sideline as communication broke down with his teammates.
But after 39 chilly minutes, the Hurricanes supporters felt marginally more content than any Mainlanders in the crowd, as Daniel Kirkpatrick goaled a penalty to give the hosts a tenuous 3-0 lead one minute before the break .
Hurricanes 22 (D Smith, J Eaton, C Smith, tries; D Kirkpatrick, con, pen, P Weepu con)
Highlanders 17 (D Bowden, S Setephano, tries Bowden 2 con)
Halftime: 3-0
