LONDON – The Super Rugby Championship will feature an all-kiwi final for the first time in nine years with both Hurricanes and the Highlanders clocking impressive wins over Australian opponents in their respective semi-finals.
The Hurricanes were more sufficient than spectacular in their disposal of the Canberra-based Brumbies, winning 29-9 in front of a sell-out Wellington crowd. After a 14-2 regular season, the Hurricanes have seemed to find the right blend of structure with flair though the last pass has often deserted them and it was the same case against the Brumbies. The game however, was won in the engine room. Up front, they were fearless in defence and combative in close. Their set piece was much more solid than it had been in recent weeks and after a week off, they looked as revitalised as they’d been all season.
Out wide they were supreme as Nehe Milner-Scudder showed why he has become one of the most elusive Super Rugby backs in just his first year in the Championship. But across the park, the Brumbies weren’t afforded any break with Nonu, Savea and Marshall causing havoc on the counter.
If the Hurricanes were guilty of anything, it was that they didn’t finish nearly as many chances as they should have with a 49-9 type score beckoning. It will definitely be something they will have to work on in the coming week before the final.
As for the Brumbies, they were always going to be up against it after travelling half way around the world in the space of a week. Forced to play a high tempo game, there was talk that they just wouldn’t have the legs to match it with the Hurricanes – and so it proved. Matching the Hurricanes would simply not have been enough for the Brumbies to get over the line and this Hurricanes team, one of the best in recent memory, made them pay dearly for it.
Across the Tasman in Sydney, the much fancied Waratahs were expected to shine in front of all sold-out Allianz Arena however, what they got sadly was the complete opposite. Two errors in the first 60 seconds reflected the nerves in the team and while they did recover, there was nothing about their surety that suggested they had won the competition just 12 months before. Phipps and Foley were particularly poor despite clawing the Waratahs back into the match during the first half.
Down 14-15 heading into the sheds, the Waratahs were expected to come out and show signs of their Championship blood however what unveiled was more of the same, until “that penalty try”. Until the 58th minute, the Waratahs had been the main beneficiary of Craig Joubert’s whistle however this all changed when Joubert awarded a controversial penalty try to the Highlanders and subsequently sin-binned Jacques Potgieter.
- Jacques Potgieter was judged to have hit Osbourne with a swinging arm which stopped the Highlanders winger scoring the try resulting in a penalty try and a yellow card for Potgieter
Undoubtedly the turning point of the match, the incident seemed to spur on the Highlanders which saw them turn in a 10 point lead with 15 minutes to go. On the other side of the park, instead of reinforcing the resolve of the Waratahs, it completely deflated them and they seemed even more unsure of themselves than when they were at the beginning of the match.
While much of the match summary seemed to revolve around the penalty try and the sin-binning, full credit needs to be given to the Highlanders. Their entire forward pack has been overlooked by the All Black selectors however they bullied the Wallaby star-studded Waratah forwards that often dwarfed them. During the competition, they have seemed a little too reliant on their stars but their forwards really stood up to be counted which is a huge credit to Jamie Joseph who, after the match, sent a couple of jibes to the media about the Highlanders supposed ‘no-names’.
