As the author stated, Barrett’s missed kicks & Dixon’s ‘try’, as did Savea’s butchered one, proved pretty crucial in the end.

The other thing that hampered the Hurricanes IMO was the loss of Ardie Savea (I picked him for the AB squad along with Geo Moala 18 mths back, but what do I – or the AB selectors – know?) who had been dominant @ the breakdown previously. Would likely have denied the Highlanders more possession.

Otago played the more varied game & Ben Smith in particular, was pin point with his kicking. Aaron Smith was, mostly, not too far behind his namesake in this respect. They also defended well and the longer the game wore on the harder it got for Wellington as time pressed.

Although overall stats favoured the hurricanes & it’s hard to criticise them for they way they played as this got them a home final, but @ times, TJ Perenara especially, threw a few too many speculative passes rather than id target runners. They lost potentially vital possession, particularly later on, in this fashion. In the end this & the other aforementioned factors, dun for them.

Pity, as, for me, they played proper rugger.