Wellington to meet Otago in an all-New Zealand final
The Wellington Hurricanes have the game plan and personnel to win their first Super Rugby title next week, according to the ACT Brumbies.
The Hurricanes beat the Brumbies 29-9 with a high-tempo game, aimed at keeping the ball out of the Australian side’s hands and stretching them across the field after battering them up the middle of the park.
“They’re pretty good this year,” Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said. “It’s one of their better years. They seem to have got their whole game right compared to previous years.
“They have some really good structures in their game and they stick to it. They also have a really good counter-attack and the way they open the game up off turnovers, they have the all round game to win it this year.”
The Hurricanes will face the Otago Highlanders next week in an all-New Zealand final, the first since 2006, after the Dunedin-based side beat last year’s champions the New South Wales Waratahs 35-17 at Sydney.
While Larkham felt the way the Hurricanes could open the game up was important, his captain Stephen Moore felt their defence had also been critical.
“A lot is said about their attack and rightly so, but their defence was terrific,” the hooker said. “They covered the field well and put us under pressure. You do need good defence like that to win the competition and that will hold them in good stead for next week.”
The Hurricanes had been under pressure at times, and the Brumbies blew two chances to strike back in the second half.
Fullback Jesse Mogg dropped the ball with the line open, while inside centre Matt Toomua carved through the Hurricanes defence and, instead of trying to link with support players, kicked ahead, which Beauden Barrett tidied up.
“Yeah, they were opportunities to get back in the game, but we were well and truly in the hold of the Hurricanes by then,” Larkham said.
In the second semi-final, Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph paid tribute to his pack after the Dunedin-based side stunned the Waratahs. The 35-17 win was secured with four tries from his much-vaunted back line as well as a match-turning penalty try, but Joseph said the way his forwards matched the physicality of the international-laden Waratahs pack had been key to the victory.
“They aren’t All Blacks, they aren’t Wallabies, they aren’t Springboks, but they are very good rugby players,” he said. “And I guess you can see that we’ve created a very good team.
“Yeah, we’ve got a very good back line, but I think in the last three or four games the pack’s really stood up and at crucial times of the season they’ve done that.”
It will be a second final for the Highlanders and ensures a first-time champion for Super Rugby, but Joseph said his team would still be very much the underdogs.
“It still surprises me. In many ways it seems that we’ve fooled the rugby community. They still don’t quite believe in us. What else can these guys do?” he said.
“But the Hurricanes are stacked with All Blacks, they’re in form, they’ve only lost a couple of games. It’s a big task and we’ve got to play it up there as well.
“It’s as big a task as this one was tonight.”
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