Hurricanes reach Super 14 final
2006-05-19 11:40
Sydney - Jimmy Gopperth kicked a 50m
penalty eight minutes from time to hand the Hurricanes a 16-14 win over the Waratahs in a Super 14 semi-final at Jade stadium on Friday.
The replacement flyhalf calmly slotted the ball over the
posts to send the Hurricanes through to their first final since
the competition, originally known as the Super 12, started in
1996.
The Hurricanes will play the winner of Saturday's second
semi-final between the Crusaders and the
Bulls in next week's final.
"I'm very proud of the boys, we took it right to the wire,"
Hurricanes captain Rodney So'oialo said in a post-match
interview.
"It makes it all that much sweeter when you beat a tough
team like them."
The Waratahs, beaten finalists last season, looked to have
snatched victory when wing Peter Hewat booted two penalties to
put his team 14-13 in front, but a collapsed scrum gave the
Hurricanes the penalty they needed to regain the lead.
Waratahs captain Chris Whitaker said the Hurricanes had deserved to win, but he was perplexed by the referee's decision to penalise his team for collapsing the scrum when they had the feed in a good attacking position.
"What can I say? It was one of those 50-50 calls it could
have gone either way," he said.
"But I'm very proud of the way we hung in there. It was
always going to be tough to come here and win and we were under
the pump for a long time."
Strong start
The Hurricanes made a strong start, racing to a 6-0 lead
inside the first eight minutes after scrumhalf Piri Weepu then
flyhalf David Holwell both kicked early penalties.
The Waratahs scored the first try when Wallabies wing
Lote Tuqiri burst through a hole and quickly recycled the ball
for Hewat to dive over in the right corner.
Hewat missed the sideline conversion but was on target with
a penalty shot in the 20th minute that put the visitor's in
front for the first time.
The Hurricanes, who dominated the scrums, regained the lead
when Samoan winger Lome Fa'atua sliced his way through to score
near the posts, giving Holwell a simple conversion to put his
team up 13-8 at the break.
The Hurricanes almost scored a second try just before the
interval when wing Shannon Paku dived on a perfectly-weighted
kick from Holwell but the video referee ruled the ball had
touched the in-goal sideline before he got to it.
The hosts dominated the opening exchanges of the second
half, but the Waratahs' defence held firm against waves of
attack.
Wellington turned down a kick to goal that would have put
them eight points in front with 25 minutes to go and were
almost left to rue their decision when Hewat landed two
penalties to put the Waratahs ahead with 10 minutes to go.
Gopperth's long-range penalty put the Hurricanes back in
front and the Waratahs' last chance disappeared when Tuqiri missed a long-range drop goal.