The Hurricanes followed their fellow countrymen the Highlanders into the 2016 Super Rugby semifinal round with an overwhelming 41-0 win over South Africa’s Sharks at the Westpac Stadium, Wellington, on Saturday, after leading 13-0 at the halftime break.
On Friday, the Highlanders toppled Australia’s Brumbies 15-9 in Canberra and later on Saturday New Zealand will have the Crusaders and the Chiefs playing away against South African opponents in the remaining two quarterfinal fixtures.
The Hurricanes was the only New Zealand team to draw a home tie in the play-offs and after their win as well as that of the Highlanders, a Kiwi clean sweep is on the cards this weekend.
Foul weather greeted the teams at the start when they ran out to swirling winds and a soggy surface. It was going to be a test to see which teams coped better on the day and the Sharks suffered the most in the early stages when their flyhalf Garth April missed two early kicks at goal.
In stark contrast, his opposite number Beauden Barrett led the Hurricanes’ challenge wonderfully with a superb display of flyhalf generalship and almost single-handedly laid the platform for his side’s eventual 13-0 halftime lead.
The Sharks looked suitably competitive initially but they lost the ball in tackles and missed a few first-time tackles which saw then come away empty-handed from a few promising sorties into the Hurricanes’ 22m area.
After April’s lapses from the kicking tee, Barrett raised the flags with a 12th-minute penalty to bring up his 900-pont haul in Super Rugby (3-0).
Five minutes later Barrett unleashed a crosskick deep into the 22m area where Sharks failed to field. After a few desperate tackles which managed to hold up the Hurricanes on the tryline, loosehead prop Loni Uhila barged over for an unconverted try (8-0).
Three minutes later, Hurricanes scrumhalf TJ Perenara made a blindside snipe from the back of the scrum and the Sharks defence were caught napping. A scoring pass to fullback James Marshall who was ranging out wide on the touchlines was a touch too much for a Sharks and the Hurricanes were in for their second five-pointer, which also went unconverted (13-0).
April had another chance to open his side’s scoring account but was wide again four minutes ahead of halftime.
The Sharks had a lucky let-off in the closing minute of the first half when Barrett came close to scoring after JP Pietersen’s kick was charged down five metres out.
When second-half play resumed, Perenara stage-managed the opening 10 minutes to the extent that the match was settled as a contest as the Hurricanes ran up a 27-0 lead.
He had a hand in both tries, both of which were converted by Barrett. Leftwing Jason Woodward pounced for a 46th minute try and three minutes the Westpac crowd erupted when lock Vaea Fifita dotted down for the Hurricanes’ fourth try (27-0).
Just ahead of the hour mark, Perenara capped his matchwinning performance with a try and Barrett goaled the conversion for a runaway 34-0 lead.
There was further embarrassment for the South Africans when Hurricanes crashed over for a sixth try right at the death when flanker Brad Shields scored. Leftwing Jason Woodward converted (41-0).
In the process, the Hurricanes became the first Super Rugby side to render opponents scoreless in a play-off clash with this one-sided 41-0 triumph.
Scorers: Hurricanes 41 (13): Tries: Loni Uhila, James Marshall, Jason Woodward, Vaea Fifita, TJ Perenara, Brad Shields. Conversions: Beauden Barrett (3), Jason Woodward. Penalty: Barrett
South Africa Today Sport – Rugby News