Hurricanes blow Reds away for second place

Only the Bulls can overtake the Hurricanes on the Super 14 table if they beat the Sharks. A draw would not be enough for the Bulls to overtake them as the points differential would favour the Hurricanes.

 

The result knocks the Waratahs out of the top 4 which means that no Australian teams will contest the 2009 Super 14 finals.

 

Leading 24-14 at halftime, Jeremy Thrush scored early in the second half to give the Hurricanes a 17-point lead, but the Reds' Mark McLinden pulled the home side back to a 10-point deficit early in the second half.

 

The Hurricanes restored a 13-point margin when Willie Ripia kicked his second penalty of the night to add to his three conversions for the match.

 

Brando Va'aulu scored a 70-meter intercept try with seven minutes left for the Reds for a four-try bonus point.

 

Hurricanes captain Rodney So'oialo said he hopes his side improves for next week's playoff match.

 

"We made a lot of mistakes and got too many balls turned over," So'oialo said.

 

"Against a team like the Reds, they love to run the ball and it made it hard for us."

 

The win ended any chance that the previous top-four Waratahs would move into the semifinals, leaving all four Australian sides out of the playoffs for only the third time in the 14-year history of Super Rugby.

 

Reds captain James Horwill played his 50th match for the Reds, who finished the year with just three wins and in 13th place.

 

It was the sixth straight year they have finished in the bottom three in the standings.

 

Final score Reds 28 Hurricanes 37

Scorers

Reds
Tries - Cooper, Lucas, McLinden, Va’aulu
Pen -
Con - Berrick Barnes 4
Drop -

Hurricanes
Tries - Nonu 2,Weepu,Cory Jane,Thrush
Pen - Willie Ripia 2
Con - Willie Ripia 3
Drop -

Match Officials
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges: Paul Marks (Australia), Sindile Mayende (South Africa)
Television match official: Steve Leszczynski (Australia)
Assessor: Wayne Erickson (Australia)

Teams

Reds : Mark McLinden, Brando Va’aulu, Charlie Fetoai, Quade Cooper, Rod Davies, Berrick Barnes, Ben Lucas, Leroy Houston, Poutasi Luafutu/Andrew Shaw, Ezra Taylor, James Horwill (c), Van Humphries, Laurie Weeks, Sean Hardman, Ben Daley.

Reserves: Saia Faingaa, Greg Holmes, Adam Byrnes, Scott Higginbotham, Richard Kingi, Anthony Faingaa, Anthony Sauer.

Hurricanes: 1. John Schwalger,2. Andrew Hore,3. Neemia Tialata,4. Jeremy Thrush,5. Jason Eaton,6. Victor Vito,7. Scott Waldrom ,8. Rodney So'oialo (c),9. Piri Weepu ,10. Willie Ripia,11. David Smith,12. Ma'a Nonu,13. Conrad Smith,14. Tamati Ellison ,15. Cory Jane

Reserves :16. Ged Robinson,17. Jacob Ellison ,18. Bryn Evans,19. Karl Lowe,20. Alby Mathewson ,21. Jason Kawau ,22. Zac Guildford