Brothers Beauden and Jordie Barrett combined for two tries, 18 points, two yellow cards and a red card as the Hurricanes held on to a diminishing lead to beat the New South Wales Waratahs 38-28 in Super Rugby yesterday.
The brothers scored tries in the first half and Jordie Barrett added four conversions as the Hurricanes opened a 33-7 halftime lead over a Waratahs side that looked listless and directionless, but the Waratahs rallied to outscore the Hurricanes 21-5 in the second half as Beauden Barrett received a yellow card in each spell which translated into a red card in the 79th minute.
The Hurricanes made an explosive start, scoring tries through Ngani Leaumape and the Barretts to lead 21-0 after only 11 minutes.
The Waratahs fueled the Hurricanes’ counterattacking game with poor kicking and missed first tackles, but Beauden Barrett’s yellow card in the 17th minute sparked the Waratahs to score through Ned Hannigan.
Tries to winger Wes Goosen and lock Mark Abbott boosted the Hurricanes’ lead to 33-7 at halftime as they controlled set-pieces and used long passes to pick gaps in the defense.
The Waratahs made a strong start to the second half with tries to fullback Bryce Hegarty and scrumhalf Jake Gordon, which slashed the margin to 33-21 after 47 minutes.
Leaumape’s second try made the lead 38-21, but the Waratahs continued to improve and a try to Andrew Kelaway in the 70th minute cut the lead to 10 points.
“When we scored that many points in the first half we’ve got to come out after halftime and be a bit more clinical,” Hurricanes captain T.J. Perenara said.
Waratahs captain Michael Hooper regretted another poor start.
“Our fight can’t be questioned this year,” Hooper said. “We’ve won the last 40 minutes in most games, barring last week, but the first 20 is an issue for us and it’s really frustrating.”
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