Hurricanes vs Reds: Five things we learned

Sat, May 14, 2016, 9:45 AM
Matt Lewis
by Matt Lewis
A depleted Hurricanes beat the Reds in Wellington, despite missing four of their stars through suspension.

Mixed night for Goromaru

Ayumu Goromaru returned to the Reds starting side for the first time since round one and had a mixed night at fullback. He was solid with the boot, kicking three from four and keeping the Reds in the match but he would be disappointing with his impact around the ground. His field kicking was below par.

Ayumu Goromaru nailed three from four with the boot. Photo: Getty Images

Suspensions hurt

It’s been well documented this week that the Hurricanes were missing some of their best players due to suspension after the likes of Ardie Savea, Julian Savea, Victor Vito and Cory Jane broke curfew in South Africa last weekend. While the ‘Canes were able to still secure the points, it was made a lot harder by missing four of the best.

‘Canes counter

The Reds were very much in the game for the opening 65 minutes dominating 60% of the possession. While they missed chances to score, what hurt them the most was allowing the Hurricanes to score from the counter attack. Woodward’s two tries came from nothing but helped the Hurricanes eventually cruise to victory.

Simmons 100th

The Wallaby lock became the youngest Queensland forward to reach 100 caps passing the likes of John Eales, James Horwill and Stan Pilecki. While it wasn’t the night he was looking for, Simmons was busy around the park and shows continues to be great servant to Queensland Rugby.              

Rob Simmons became the youngest Queensland forward to reach 100 caps. Photo: Getty Images

Gill and Ready continue to shine

Liam Gill continues to send a message to Wallabies coach Michael Cheika while Andrew Ready definitely has a stranglehold on the starting Reds number two jersey. Between the two of them they managed to win five turnovers and 22 carries. As a whole the Reds are starting to show a lot more fight in recent weeks and it’s been led by these two.

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