The Wellington Hurricanes cut loose in the second half to post an emphatic 47-22 victory against an under-strength Western Force in their Super 14 rugby match in Wellington yesterday.
After leading 18-8 at halftime, the ’Canes piled on a further 29 points in the second spell to remain unbeaten in the competition.
It was a step up from their first round performance, when they struggled to score a solitary try against the Auckland Blues.
PHOTO: REUTERS
This time the Hurricanes were a more polished unit as they piled on seven tries to pick up a bonus point.
“We put more emphasis on the ball carrier and the cleaners doing their job, one man, one bullet sort of thing,” captain Andrew Hore said of the improvement from the previous week. “We had to work pretty hard in the first 40 minutes but then we got some good quick ball and scored some good tries at the end.”
The Force, looking for a boost after their first-up loss to the Brumbies, were without a host of senior players, including Cameron Shepherd and Ryan Cross in the backs and loose forward David Pocock.
But captain Nathan Sharpe said that was no excuse, and the Force were the architects of their own downfall after they were only 13 points down with 20 minutes to play.
“For the first half and first 10-15 minutes of the second half we were right in there and played some good football,” Sharpe said. “But when we look back on it we’ll rue our own mistakes. We missed a few one-on-one tackles, they broke our line and we gifted them a few tries.”
In a high-scoring romp in Johannesburg on Friday, the Chiefs scored a 72-65 win over the Lions, who now head to New Zealand to play the Hurricanes.
In Friday’s other game, Central Cheetahs gained their first away win in three seasons when they upset Coastal Sharks 25-20 in an all-South Africa Super 14 match at Absa Stadium in Durban.
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