The Hurricanes have made it two from two on their South African tour, beating the Lions 37-17 in Johannesburg this morning.
They did it without All Black first five Beauden Barrett, who pulled out late due to an unspecified injury. His brother Jordie stepped up in his absence, kicking 12 points and defended well in an assured display at fullback.
Ngani Laumape reminded the All Black selectors of his ability by scoring the opening try, before the Lions answered with one to Springbok winger Aphiwe Dyantyi after 10 minutes. The rest of the first half was a tight affair, with the sides heading to the break with the score locked at 10-all.
However, Hurricanes winger Ben Lam gave them a perfect start to the second half, pouncing on the dropped kickoff to race away and score straight away. After that, the Hurricanes forwards took control of their South African counterparts, helped a great deal by the injection of Dane Coles off the bench.
Coles and Lam combined for the winger’s second try after 48 minutes, before Dyantyi hit back with a try off a pretty questionable-looking pass.
With the score now 25-17, Coles then took it on himself to secure the win, scoring two tries in the last 20 minutes to make sure the Hurricanes walked off victorious.
The result means that the Hurricanes have now secured second place in the NZ Conference behind the Crusaders, who thrashed the Rebels 66-0 last night in Christchurch. They play the Blues in their final regular-season game next weekend back in Wellington, which now has nothing riding on it. It’s highly likely the Hurricanes will rest most of their All Blacks in preparation for their quarter final match a week later.
Hurricanes 37 (B Lam 2, D Coles 2, N Laumape tries; J Barrett 3 con, 2 pen)
Lions 17 (A Dyantyi 2 tries; S Reynolds 2 con, pen)
HT: 10-all