A late conversion by Jordie Barrett yesterday saw the Wellington Hurricanes snatch a 29-27 victory over the Auckland Blues and gave him bragging rights over big brother Beauden in a dramatic Super Rugby clash in Wellington.
The match was billed as a battle of the Barrett brothers, with Beauden at fullback for the Blues making his mark with a sensational first-half try.
When the Hurricanes scored an equalizing try two minutes from fulltime, it was Jordie’s sideline conversion that determined the outcome.
It gave the Hurricanes a third consecutive win, while the Blues had their second loss, after losing to the Canterbury Crusaders last week.
Hurricanes captain Dane Coles said his side went off the boil after taking the lead early in the second half and that it was a relief when the final conversion sailed between the posts.
“We lost our way for about 15 to 20 minutes, then we got a turnover and scored,” he said, adding that Jordie won the battle of the Barretts. “He’s pretty special, Jordie. Baz [Beauden] kept putting up those high bombs to get in his head and Jordie kept taking them.”
The Hurricanes’ Ngani Laumape went from villain to hero in quick succession at the start of the game.
Just 13 seconds from the start, he gave away a penalty, allowing Otere Black to land three points for the Blues, but three minutes later, he stepped around Beauden Barrett and crashed through an ineffectual Black tackle to score in the corner, putting the Hurricanes in front.
Beauden, in his first appearance in Wellington since defecting to Auckland, regained the lead for the Blues with an outrageous dummy to open up the Hurricanes backline and a 35m sprint.
The Hurricanes squandered an another chance to score when a Jordie Barrett penalty hit the uprights, while a try from a lineout drive to Dalton Papali’i pushed the Blues out to a 15-7 lead.
The Hurricanes hit back with a similar try to Reed Prinsep and on the stroke of halftime, a Jordie Barrett penalty leveled the score.
They opened up a 22-15 lead with a Dane Coles try soon after the restart, but the Blues hit the front again with tries from lineout drives to Akira Ioane and Kurt Eklund, before the Aumua-Jordie Barrett combination handed the game to the Hurricanes.
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