Hurricanes sink Western Force with a stunning defeat at Palmerston North - Super Rugby News
The Hurricanes beat the Western Force in a spectacular Super Rugby match played on Friday, May 27. The Hurricanes snatched victory from Force by 34-28 with couple of late tries by James Broadhurst and Cory Jane in the ending moments of the match. The game
remained totally unpredictable until the final whistle as the Hurricanes made it their fourth win.
The Hurricanes hosted the Australian derby Western Force at Palmerston North in the 14th round of Super Rugby for the match-up. Both the teams had performed badly in the matches played so far and had won just three matches apiece. The Hurricanes
had new blood injected into the side by Conrad Smith and Hosea Gear, who made a comeback into the side after healing from the various injuries.
The Force had nothing to cheer about at the start of the game as their star player James O’Connor and Willie Ripia were missing from their side with injuries. James Stannard replaced O’Connor at Number 10 position. An interesting side note of the match was
that Glen Jackson made his Super Rugby debut as referee in the match.
Shepherd put the Western Force into an early lead as he scored on a penalty for his side and made the score 3-0. Meanwhile Hurricane had a set back as their fullback, Andre Taylor, left the field only in the second minute of the match after sustaining an
injury.
The tone of the match was a little sluggish in the start but Hurricanes’ Nonu broke the ice and helped his side with their first try of the match. Cruden increased the total to 7-3 for Hurricanes with a conversion kick during the 12th minute.
On the other hand, Shepherd had really good day today in the field as he contributed one more well executed penalty kick, a conversion, and try to finish the first part of the game. Sidey also scored an impressive try for his team and Western Force were
well ahead of the Hurricanes at the end of the first half with 18-10.
The Force player came back with an immense confidence but they were surprised by the Hurricanes a few minutes later. Nonu showed real class and scored another try which was followed by Cruden scoring a successful conversion kick in the next minute. The Hurricanes
were trailing by just one point with 30 minutes to go in the match.
The Western Force rose to the occasion and paid back the Hurricanes in the same fashion. They were well in command over the Hurricanes by 28-20 with just10 minutes left in the match but the remaining time belonged to the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes rushed
their score 34-28 in the dying moments of the game and secured a splendid victory over the Western Force. The Hurricanes also secured a bonus point with an outstanding win.
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