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'I just wish I was that talented that I could play a number of positions'

Beauden Barrett of the Hurricanes. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

The Hurricanes have come away with a 34-28 win over a determined Stormers outfit in Wellington, but it wasn’t an easy task as the visitors piled on the pressure at set-piece to take a halftime lead.

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“They played to their strengths and they’ll probably say we played to ours, but I was delighted with the character of the team tonight,” head coach John Plumtree said.

The Hurricanes dominated possession, playing a width game from inside their own half early to test the visitors, but penalties at scrum time allowed the Stormers to tick over the scoreboard and fuel their lineout maul.

“We played the better rugby, but we just kept getting under pressure because of their maul. I think they scored most of their tries from that,” Plumtree said.

The Stormers led 21-15 at the break thanks to tries from Siya Kolisi and Bongi Mbonambi and three SP Marais penalties, while the Hurricanes scored through Ben May and a well-worked set-piece try to second-five Jordie Barrett, who scored from a grubber kick in behind from Richard Judd.

The Hurricanes missed another try-scoring opportunity in the first half when Ben Lam spilled a grubber from Beauden Barrett. The opportunities to use kicks in behind was something they thought could be on offer against the Stormers.

“We are aware of that space but you have to confirm it out there. I thought the comms from the guys out wide were excellent tonight,” captain Beauden Barrett said post-match.

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“The guys on the inside are only as good as those calls on the outside. Of course, we targetted it.”

The Hurricanes were able to regain the lead with a try to Wes Goosen but just as quickly gave it back, failing to take the kickoff and allowing the Stormers to win another scrum penalty.

Jaco Coetzee’s converted try from that possession kept their noses in front 28-27 despite Wes Goosen’s second try moments later.

With the match moving towards the dying stages, the Hurricanes managed to regain one of their tipped lineouts and Ardie Savea got the ball rolling with a strong carry. On the next phase, a punching run from Jordie Barrett running off Beauden Barrett put the Hurricanes inside the Stormers 22 before Beauden finished the possession off a next phase with a match-sealing try.

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Barrett praised the performance of his younger brother, the first time the brothers have filled the 10-12 jerseys for the Hurricanes together.

“I thought he was great, he played well. His comms were great tonight,” Barrett said.

“He doesn’t mind playing 12, he feels more comfortable at 12 than he does on the wing he said. I just wish I was that talented that I could play a number of positions.

The Stormers had two final opportunities in the final ten minutes with a lineout on the Hurricanes’ five, but both opportunities were squandered. The first maul was stopped and the ball was turned over a few phases later and the second was penalised for obstruction.

“We’re just frustrated. That was the one we wanted really badly and we let ourselves down in the second half. It was a game we probably should have won.” Robbie Fleck

The Stormers will head north to play the Blues in Auckland while the Hurricanes will have 6-days to prepare for a clash against the Crusaders at home.

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P
PM 32 minutes ago
Why Henry Pollock's x-factor could earn him a Lions Test start

I have been following Lions tours for the last 30 odd years and I can’t remember one feeling as flat as this one, so your damp squib comment is a fair one.


I think there are a few reasons for this;


1) The opposition isn’t that strong this tour and hasn’t generated the normal excitement and uncertainty for the tests, most people are expecting 0-3 (which has never happened in living memory before).


2) The growing discontent within the fan base at the number of “outside BIL “ born players in the squad is a growing issue. The import issue has reached saturation point with some fans and is a bit negative element to this tour (will improve as nation switching becomes harder).


3) The rugby so far hasn’t been great and the tactics to date are not very exciting. People expected more from Andy Farrell and his Lions team.


4) Lions management have scored some own goals with the selection and subsequent call ups. It should have been the best 44 players from the start of the tour but the recent call ups have been underwhelming and damaged the Lions brand for some fans.


5) This tour would have been better if they merged Australia with Argentina and the Lions played Fiji as a warm up game to give the Pacific Nations a better chance of exposure and glory to grow the game. This is the sort of innovative thinking they need to bring out the magic of the Lions brand and create an exciting experience for all.


What’s become clear is the next tour needs to be an exciting one before people forget how magical a Lions tour can feel and the Lions brand is damaged to the point of questioning why it continues. The writing is on the wall, so lets hope the Lions see it and correct some of the above by the next tour.

102 Go to comments
P
PM 1 hour ago
Why Henry Pollock's x-factor could earn him a Lions Test start

Nick,

I am a long suffering England fan, who has had to endure watching 4 years of dull rugby, poor selections and painful defeats. Steve Borthwick talks about GPS and picks squads by numbers and then we put in a poor performance on the pitch - it’s been a consistent trend.


Something changed in the Six Nations and we totally changed our style (literally overnight) and played some really good footie, which finally felt like positive rugby for a change.


Genge has regained his pore-Covid form and is looking back to his best and is head and shoulders above Porter.


Chessum has had a good year and hasn’t played a poor International game this season.


Tom Curry was outstanding in the 6 Nations but they have been playing him at 6, wheras he is better at 7 and is lethal at the breakdown.


Tom Willis was brought into the starting team at 8 and has been one of the best England players over the last year, who should have been on this Lions tour at 8. Earl had his best game since 2020 last week - not sure 1 game warrants Lions selection over a poor combination side and he is certainly second choice for his club 7 country behind Willis.


Pollock will be a good player but like all young emerging players, he is inconsistent and can go quiet in games, which is why Curry should be the starter at 7. He brings energy to games, which is why he is good from the bench but there is an argument to say he is the 5th best England openside (Curry x2, Underhill & Earl are currently better) but will improve over the next 5 years. We just need to stop the media building him up for a fall, let him play and develop and you will see a sensational Henry Pollock for the Lions in 4 years time.


Lions will be too powerful over 80 mins, so doesn’t really matter who they pick. Just please don’t put too much hype on Pollock. His 20 mins of International rugby going into this tour were positive but the media caused a frenzy and no other player would be selected on this basis.


Let’s enjoy the rugby and give Pollock the space and time he requires.

102 Go to comments
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