Hurricanes beat Kings 42-20 in Super Rugby

26 March 2016, 12:00AM

Flyhalf Beauden Barrett scored 22 points including a last-minute try that earned a bonus point for the Hurricanes who beat the Kings 42-20 in Super Rugby on Friday.

Barrett pounced on a loose pass in the final play of the game to race away for a try which created a flattering winning margin for the Hurricanes. Replacement Vince Aso also scored a try inside the last 10 minutes which finally ended the challenge by the resilient Kings.

The Hurricanes led 19-3 after 26 minutes but squandered that advantage and saw the Kings close to 19-17 at halftime.

The teams were separated by five points or less until the 66th minute when Barrett kicked his third penalty, then the Hurricanes' two late tries secured a bonus point.

The Kings had conceded 113 points in their previous two matches, hadn't won in four games this season and started Friday as rank underdogs.

It appeared another heavy defeat was likely when they made a series of errors which allowed tries to Ngani Laumape, Blade Thomson and Ardie Savea to gift the Hurricanes an early 19-3 lead.

The Kings would have realized their best chance of beating the Hurricanes was to deny them possession but, instead, they kicked and fueled the Hurricanes' counter-attacking game. But when they tightened up their play after 25 minutes, the Hurricanes looked disorganized.

The Kings scored a try through captain Stephen Sykes, in his 100th Super Rugby game, then through flyhalf Louis Fouche right on halftime to close within two points.

Barrett kicked two penalties and Fouche one in the first 20 minutes of the second half as the Hurricanes edged ahead 25-20. All Blacks flyhalf Barrett then pushed the Hurricanes out to an eight point lead with his third penalty six minutes later.

Trailing by more than the margin of a converted try, the Kings were forced to take risks which led to late tries by Aso and Barrett.

"I think we've got to learn to control the game a bit more," Hurricanes captain Dane Coles said. "Everyone wanted to throw the magic ball and score tries but that's a lesson to us. We're a young team."
 

26 March 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>