Hurricanes run in seven tries against Stormers

The Super Rugby champions ran in four tries in the opening half and then three more in the second for a bonus-point win. It was their 11th consecutive win on home soil. Had Jordie Barrett had his kicking boots on, the score might well have passed the 50-point mark but he failed with four conversion attempts in the match.

The Stormers will return to Cape Town on Saturday without a single log point after suffering 57-14 (Highlanders) and 57-24 (Crusaders) defeats in their other two tour matches.

The Stormers started off well enough, much like previous weeks in New Zealand where they suffered heavy defeats after their defence capitulated as the games wore on.

The Hurricanes were forced to defend in the opening minutes as the Stormers enjoyed a few sorties into the opposition 22m territory but again they came away tryless.

Stormers flyhalf Robert du Preez opened the scoring in the match with a fourth-minute penalty (3-0).

Once the Hurricanes wrested the initiative, they set off on a wave of attacks which produced three unanswered tries, one of which was converted by their fullback Jordie Barrett. Flyhalf Beauden Barrett engineered the opening try with a deft crossfield kick which led to Cory Jane’s opening five-pointer in the ninth minute. Jordie Barrett added the conversion (7-3).

Six minutes later Jordie Barrett scored a freakish try when he dispossessed Stormers No 8 Nizaam Carr in the in-goal area to grab the first of his two first-half tries (12-3).

The Stormers suffered another setback in the 21st minute when their hooker Bongi Mbonambi was sin-binned and the Hurricanes exploited the extra-man advantage a minute later with a try by leftwing Julia Savea (17-3).

Mbonambi’s replacement Ramone Samuels made an impact when he joined the fray and he was well-placed at the back of a close-in driving maul to score in the 26th minute. Du Preez added the conversion (17-10).

A turnover inside the Stormers’ half opened the way for the Hurricanes’ next try in the 34th minute when the Barrett brothers imposed themselves once more on the game. Beauden reeled out another fine crossfield kick behind the Stormers’ defence where Jordie ranged up to collect and score to round off their side’s first-half scoring (22-10).

As the halftime break loomed, the Stormers produced a strong passage of play and their efforts were rewarded with two penalties which fullback SP Marais goaled in quick succession to reduce the deficit to 22-16.

Marais assumed the goalkicking duties after Du Preez was laid low with a shoulder injury which forced him to withdraw from the action in the 33rd minute.

When second-half play resumed, the Stormers continued where they left off and the Hurricanes battled to exit their half and in the process, they conceded two goalable penalties in the space of five minutes. Marais goaled each time to level the scores in the 51st minute (22-22).

Just past the hour mark, the Hurricanes produced a huge scrum inside the Stormers’ 22m area and once the ball was sent wide, centre Ngani Laumape corkscrewed his way over near the corner flag for yet another unconverted try (27-22).

At this stage, the Hurricanes were leading the try-count 5-1 but a few minutes later they made it 6-1 when they counter-attacked from their own tryline, with Laumape again on hand to round off under the posts. Jordie Barrett added the extras to provide a 12-point buffer for his side with six minutes playing time left (34-22).

Two minutes after the fulltime hooter sounded, the Barrett brothers had the final say in the match, with Beauden scoring his side’s seventh try, and Jordie converting (41-22).

Scorers, Hurricanes 41 (22): Tries: Cory Jane, Jordie Barrett (2), Julian Savea, Ngani Laumape (2), Beauden Barrett. Conversions: Jordie Barrett (3).

Stormers 22 (16): Try: Ramone Samuels. Conversion: Robert du Preez. Penalties: Robert du Preez, SP Marais (4)