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Watch: Julian Savea picks off Chiefs twice in first four minutes
By Online Editors
Hurricanes winger Julian Savea, also known as 'The Bus', started the Super Rugby quarterfinal in style against the Chiefs grabbing two intercepts in the first four minutes.
In what could be his last home appearance for the Hurricanes, Savea snatched McKenzie's long ball on counter-attack, which sailed slightly in wind. The clearing box kick from Perenara drifted infield which forced the Chiefs to continue play, and with less than a minute on the clock, the Hurricanes had a dream start as Savea raced away to score under the posts.
Recap the action:
MATCH CENTRE - Hurricanes vs Chiefs
It was a case of Deja Vu less than two minutes later as Savea once again make a brilliant read as the Chiefs tried to run a scrum play to the left-hand side. Savea only had eyes for McKenzie out the back and Weber's pass hit him perfectly in the breadbasket. He raced away towards his 50th Super Rugby try but this time the 80m dash was too much of an ask as Chiefs winger Shaun Stevenson pulled him down.
Ex-Hurricanes wing and Savea's close friend Cory Jane described it at halftime as "the Bus running out of petrol".
The Hurricanes will advance to the Super Rugby semi-finals after holding off the fast-finishing Chiefs 32-31 where Savea will have another chance to score his 50th before heading over to France to take up his deal with Toulon.
Full Match Highlights
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Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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