All Kiwi Affair as Hurricanes and Highlanders cruise past the Aussies
It’ll be a local derby with a title on the line at the Cake Tin in Wellington next week, as the Hurricanes and Highlanders both dispatched their Australian opponents with some style in the weekend’s semi-finals.
The Canes will be hoping home advantage will prove as decisive for them as it did on Saturday when they dispatched a brave but ultimately limited Brumbies side 29-9 – although to put the result all down to home advantage would be misleading and unfair, as the generous serving of stardust gave the hosts too much pace and power for the visitors to handle. Particularly impressive were the Savea brothers, Julian and Ardie, who need to be tested immediately for rhino DNA in my opinion, and it was the former who opened the scoring by bulldozing his way over Nick White to score in the corner.
In-form scrum half TJ Perenara then dashed over for the second try after yet another electric run from Nehe Milner-Skudder, but the 12-3 half time lead didn’t do justice to a display which saw the men in yellow dominant in just about every facet of play, despite the standard skulduggery of David Pocock at the breakdown, which stopped the scoreline getting silly after the break.
Despite the continued efforts of the Brumbies’ defence, though, the Hurricanes put the game to bed in the second half as Ardie Savea got in on the act following a driving maul and replacement wing Matt Proctor scooted over following a superb burst from Ma’a Nonu, leaving the full time score at 29 – 9.
It was yet another cracking display by a team who have been a cut above the rest all season, and their only concerns will be for Savea junior and Milner-Skudder, who both left the field with ailments – although neither has been ruled out of the final yet.
Across the Tasman in Sydney, last year’s finalists the Waratahs were expected to once again make the main event after building nicely over the last six weeks, despite not hitting top form. But in front of an initially raucous crowd at the Allianz Stadium, the men in blue simply failed to even hit third gear, as a combination of smart kicking and aggressive forward play from the Highlanders rattled the hosts, with half backs Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley looking particularly wobbly throughout the game.
Despite that, the Tahs did get to touch down first as Rob Horne superbly held off Waisake Naholo, getting a face full of palm in the process, following a Foley cross-kick, but the Kiwis were the better side on the balance of play. After Aaron Smith had intercepted a Wycliff Palu pass to dart over and Richard Buckman had wriggled out of two tackles (arguably being legitimately tackled in the process) to cruise over, the visitors held a well-deserved lead at the break.
The boot of Foley put the hosts back into the lead straight after the break, but any hopes that a wall-punching team-talk from Michael Cheika, taking charge of his last game for the Waratahs, would galvanise the reigning champions proved to be unfounded. Waisake Naholo, as he has done all year, produced some magic to touch down after he kicked through, before a borderline refereeing call from Roman Poite handed the Highlanders a decisive fourth try, as Jacques Potgieter caught Patrick Osborne high as the winger was diving for the line.
A penalty try and a yellow card was the call – harsh? Possibly, but if you swing your arm in an attempt to dislodge the ball, that’s a risk you take. And Osborne rubbed it in two minutes from time with a scything line to make the the final score a comfortable – and deserved – 35 – 17 win for the Highlanders.
Hero of the Weekend: Ardie Savea. Despite a cracking season, the flanker has been left out the All Black squad – perhaps due to the embarrassment of riches competing for theseven7 shirt. But instead of sulking and going into his shell, Savea produced a blockbusting display of energy and power in which he outplayed probably the form openside in the tournament, David Pocock.
Villain of the Weekend: Jacques Potgieter or Roman Poite. Delete as appropriate, depending on your view on the decisive penalty try call in the Waratahs v Highlanders game. My view? Harsh, but probably the correct decision.
Try of the Weekend: TJ Perenara‘s stunner takes this hands down. Some people in the key herb hemisphere may not have heard of Nehe Milner-Skudder – check out his sizzling footwork to set up this score and you won’t forget him in a hurry.
By Mike Cooper (@RuckedOver)
As you know by now, we are hilarious, and you should be following us on Facebook and Twitter. 