Hurricanes pull clear of determined Sunwolves

Above: Vince Aso dives over to score his second try of the night for the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes have come away with 5 competition points after they defeated a determined Sunwolves team 43-15 in Wellington on Friday night.

It was by no means the best performance from the home side as the Sunwolves applied early pressure and came up with the first try within ten minutes, Captain Pieter Lappies Labuschagne crossing over to give his team the lead.

The Hurricanes managed to respond shortly after when skilful hands from Vince Aso led to Julian Savea levelling the score for the Hurricanes.

After the Sunwolves retook the lead with a penalty goal the Hurricanes managed to restore some order with tries to Finlay Christie and Reed Prinsep to put the Hurricanes in front 21-10 at halftime.

Within two minutes of the second half, Jordie Barret burst through to take their lead out to 16 points.

Vince Aso was denied a try when TMO Ben Skeen ruled that Ardie Savea committed a reckless clean out in the build-up much to the dislike of the crowd.

At the other end, Jeff To'omaga-Allen came up with an important piece of defence to keep the Sunwolves held up when they looked certain to score.

The Sunwolves managed to close the gap after winger Kenki Fukuoka scored from a kick and chase to make it an 11 point ball game.

The Hurricanes managed to finish strongly however with Vince Aso and Brad Shields scoring in the corner to add a bit of respectability to the scoreboard, final score 43-15.

Hurricanes Head coach Chris Boyd gave credit to the Sunwolves who dominated possession for the full 80 minutes.

“I think we’ve got to give credit to the Sunwolves they held onto the ball for long periods of times”
Hurricanes captain Brad Shields said the flow of the game and the pressure applied by the Sunwolves on attack resulted in many unforced errors for the home team.

"It almost felt like on the field we were chasing a game that didn't need to be chased at times," said Brad Shields.

Sunwolves Head coach Jamie Joseph was proud of the effort his team put in despite not coming away with a win.

“I didn’t think the score really reflected the attitude or the effort of the team”.

"I think we accept when playing a quality side like the Hurricanes that every chance that we create we've got to take, and we didn't do that well enough," Said Jamie Joseph.

The Hurricanes now prepare to take on the Lions at Westpac Stadium next weekend as the Sunwolves take a week off before taking on the Reds in Tokyo.

Hurricanes 43 (Vince Aso 2, Julian Savea, Finlay Christie, Reed Prinsep, Jordie Barrett, Brad Shields tries; Beauden Barrett 3 con, Jordie Barrett con) beat the Sunwolves 15 (Pieter Labbies Labuschagne, Kenki Fukuoka tries; Hayden Parker con, pen). HT: 21-10.