Sports After Dark

Hurricanes squeak home for second week in a row

Posted by Hamish McBrearty on February 23rd, 2007

For the second time in two weeks the Hurricanes scraped home by one point to deny the Brumbies after the final hooter. After trailing since the first quarter, Hurricanes’ Number 8 Thomas Waldrom crashed over in the corner to hand the Brumbies their second last gasp loss of the season by 11-10.

Once again poor decision making on attack and tight defence were the order of the day as both teams missed chances to score and defended ferociously. The Hurricanes dominated for most of the second half but were unable to score until the final minute.

Hurricanes’ first five Jimmy Gopperth opened the scoring in the 5th minute with a penalty goal. After Brumbies’ winger Mark Gerard claimed a fair catch, Gerard and Hurricanes’ captain Tana Umaga exchanged pushes before Hurricanes’ second five Ma’a Nonu shoved Gerard from behind, earning himself a yellow card.

With Nonu off the field the Brumbies began to look like the Brumbies of old, scoring one try and should have scored another. Lock Adam Wallace-Harrison crashed over in the corner after good forward play created an overlap, fullback Julian Huxley converted.

Six minutes later the Brumbies should have had their second try of the match when Mark Gerard dotted down on the end of another overlap, but the final pass was ruled forward.

As the second half began, Brumbies’ play maker Stephen Larkham did not return after suffering a chest injury late in the second half. Hurricanes’ captain Tana Umaga also failed to return for the second half with a thigh injury.

After another Jimmy Gopperth penalty goal narrowed the gap to 7-6 the Hurricanes should have gone ahead when their forward drove over the line from a lineout only to have prop Nemia Tiala drop the ball. Julian Huxley extended the Brumbies’ lead to 10-6 with another penalty goal in the 68th minute.

During the final 10 minutes of the match the Hurricanes virtually set up camp in the Brumbies’ half, however the Brumbies repelled wave after wave of Hurricanes’ attack and looked to have held their opponents tryless for the second week running. However desperate Hurricanes’ attack, recycling the ball time and time again, eventually gave Waldrom a chance out wide where he threw a dummy and crashed over in the right corner, sparking wild celebration from Hurricanes’ players and staff. Gopperth would miss the unimportant conversion.

The injury to Hurricanes’ captain Tana Umaga is not serious, Umaga stated after the match he would be back next week, while Brumbies’ playmaker Stephen Larkham looks to have injured his sternum again, an injury that saw him miss several games last season.

In what should have been the game of the round, both teams lacked ideas on attack and smothering defense kept the scores low. Once again the tackle area was a cause of much confusion for both players and referee, something that is in desperate need of clarification by lawmakers.

Fans can only hope that the five remaining games in this round provide a better spectacle than tonight’s game, but that isn’t saying much.