Listen to Ewen McKenzie's post-match comments
The HSBC Waratahs' season suffered a setback after the Hurricanes scored three first-half tries and then defended heroically for a gripping 19-14 win in the Tooheys New Super 14 match at Aussie Stadium in Sydney on Saturday night.
An evening of high drama started when Waratahs’ Test winger Wendell Sailor was stood down indefinitely just prior to the match due to an alleged serious breach of the ARU Code of Conduct.
The Hurricanes then turned on an outstanding display of attacking rugby in the first half to take a commanding 19-7 lead at the break before desperately hanging on to victory.
The Hurricanes win saw them leap-frog the Waratahs to finish second on the Super 14 ladder and they will now host the Waratahs in a semi-final in Wellington next weekend.
It was a gutsy, determined win by the Hurricanes who defended bravely throughout the second half after both hooker Andrew Hore and scrum half Piri Weepu were separately sin-binned by South African referee Craig Joubert.
The Hurricanes win was inspired by their centres Ma’a Nonu and Tana Umaga who threatened every time they had the ball in hand while their vigorous midfield defence constantly disrupted the Waratahs’ attacking flow.
The Hurricanes opened the scoring after only seven minutes when Nonu and Umaga combined with fullback Isaia Toeava to send winger Shannon Paku racing over to score in the corner.
Eleven minutes later, the Hurricanes extended the lead to 12-0 after prop John Schwalger raced over after another midfield break by Umaga following a clever pass by flanker Jerry Collins.
But the Waratahs hit back in the 27th minute after a passing movement saw Rocky Elsom send fellow flanker Phil Waugh over to score in the corner. Peter Hewat’s conversion made the score 12-7.
However, disaster struck the Waratahs 47 seconds before half-time when Hewat’s clearing kick was charged down by flanker Chris Masoe and fly-half Jimmy Gopperth pounced on the loose ball for the Hurricanes third try.
This try ultimately proved to be the decisive score.
The Waratahs applied plenty of pressure after the break to camp inside the Hurricanes quarter but found it difficult to breach the visitors swarming defence.
After wave upon wave of enterprising attack the Waratahs finally cracked the strong Hurricanes defence when Sam Norton-Knight looped beautifully around centre Morgan Turinui to score in the 65th minute. Hewat’s conversion made the score 19-14.
The Waratahs almost scored in the 73rd minute when replacement hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau was magnificently cut down by Hurricanes reserve Lifeimi Mafi just five metres from the tryline after a great break by replacement back Daniel Halangahu.
Inside the last minute, the Waratahs threatened to score again when replacement scrumhalf Brett Sheehan raced to the line but lost the ball as he tried to unload to winger Lote Tuqiri.
It was a sad finale for the Waratahs who have now lost their last two games when they were eyeing top position on the Super 14 ladder after the preliminary rounds.
Hurricanes 19
Tries: Paku, Schwalger, Gopperth
Conversions: Gopperth 2
Waratahs 14
Tries: Waugh, Norton-Knight
Conversions: Hewat 2
