Hurricanes vs Crusaders: Player ratings from key Super Rugby match

Hit the mark with his lineout work and piled into the breakdowns.

3. Pasilio Tosi – 6

Won the key penalty in the 19th minute that set up the Canes’ first try, and put in plenty of good work elsewhere.

4. Caleb Delany –5

A little uncertain on his own throw in lineouts, but a powerful presence in the defensive line.

5. Warner Dearns – 5

This guy has been a menace to opposition lineouts throughout the competition, and continued in the same vein early, stealing a Crusaders’ throw in the second minute. It was a little surprising that he didn’t get into into the air on the Crusaders’ throw more often. Busy in his work around the park, but over-ran his defensive line leaving the space for Hotham to run into on that cheeky tryline dash.

6. Peter Lakai – 7

With a hybrid-loosie experiment playing out on the other side of the scrum, Lakai showed all the assets of a classic utility backrower. Big effort on defence and smart, well-considered contributions on attack. The link work for Moorby’s try in the 35th minute showed terrific anticipation on approach and awareness once the ball was in his hands. Lakai is on course to feature prominently for the All Blacks this season.

7. Du’Plessis Kirifi – 7

Doubtless aware that he was on show against the Crusaders’ highly touted No 7 experiment Leicester Fanga’anuku, the Hurricanes trad-7 put in a typically hard-working, no-nonsense shift. His handy third-minute kick almost bagged a 50:22, otherwise Kirifi was all head-down, work-rate up.

He scored the first Hurricanes try as the pack poured on the first-half heat. Conceded the first breakdown penalty in the 13th minute but got the credit back with a cracking turnover penalty under his own sticks when stakes were high early in the second half.

8. Brayden Iose – 6

Threw a clunky intercept in the 31st minute just as the Hurricanes were building momentum, but came up trumps in the interplay with Roigard for a Canes try just before the break. Iose’s centring kick from the left flank back to his supporting halfback had a hint of former Wellingtonian Ron Jarden about it.

9. Cam Roigard – 7

Always dangerous on a little dab, Roigard was superb, again sniffing the breakdown fringes whenever the Crusaders blinked. The premier No 9’s booming left foot was also on show, putting the hosts in the right part of the park in the early kick-tennis. Picked out Brayden Iose and put the loosie into space before capitalising on a clever return to bag what proved to be a crucial try just before halftime. In the “whose-fault” lottery, his absence from the back of the ruck on Noah Hotham’s darting try has to be considered.

10. Ruben Love – 7

A sensible show from the bloke with aspiration above a Super Rugby No 10 jersey. Love kicked his pals out of trouble in the early, dull exchanges of forceback and injected himself into the attack on early dashes. The converted fullback gave a good account of his game-management abilities in a high-stakes affair.

11. Fehi Fineanganofo – 5

A quiet night for the Hurricanes’ sudden star, meaning he only scored one try, following the 11 he’d bagged in the five games leading up to this one. Fineanganofo leads the competition for touchdowns (14) and, equally important, he’s top of the charts for clean breaks. Not many opportunities in this match.

12. Jordie Barrett – 6

The tallest back on the field showed how handy he is under high balls from the get-go. Lovely little fifth-minute dab-chip was a reminder of Barrett’s vision and for the remainder of the match he made ground and hit hard.

13. Billy Proctor – 5

There’s so much that looks great about Proctor’s work, but then he gets himself wrong-footed on a tackle like the one he missed on Rivers Reihana and it’s easy to wonder if he belongs in a black jersey. Otherwise, the Canes centre contributed very tidy work throughout the evening and was clever with the chip-space that led to Moorby’s try.

14. Josh Moorby – 6

Smart anticipation to blaze on to the short ball from Lakai for his well-deserved 35th-minute try. Went looking for work on a night of kick-chasing and physical smackdowns.

15. Callum Harkin – 6

Juicy use of his smart, long punt to get Canes out of trouble in the first half exchanges.

Bench

16. Raymond Tuputupu – 4

Had most of the second half for a stint heavy in useful carries, but botched the key lineout throw ahead of Hotham’s try. Tuputupu’s evening feeding the lineouts didn’t improve, but he was on hand to grab a useful 52nd-minute try – his sharp angle was crucial for the score. Later he dead-set spilled a knock-on with the Canes hot on attack in the 62nd minute.

17. Siale Lauaki – 6

A 20-minute shift of grunt in a dominant pack.

18. Tevita Mafileo – 4

Fresh man on the field, should have the legs to get into place to block Hotham’s run for a 45th-minute try. Hurricanes bench forwards would be happy with their efforts maintaining dominance.

19. Isaia Walker-Leawere – 5

A late busy effort, bolstering the leading pack.

20. Brad Shields – 5

Plugged the gaps as Crusaders tried to find a way back into the match in the final quarter.

21. Devan Flanders – 6

Got stuck into plenty of heavy work in his second-half run.

22. Ereatara Enari – 5

Tough gig replacing the best halfback on the planet. Enari was accurate in his passing.

23. Jone Rova – 4

Couldn’t find a way into the game when he came on late.

Crusaders

1. George Bower – 5

Big fella went hard with ball in hand before departing ahead of the final quarter. Never got dominance over his Canes opposites.

2. Codie Taylor (vc) – 5

Super Rugby’s joint-leading try scorer among the forwards this season (he has six to his name, alongside Chiefs rake Samisoni Taukei’aho) was largely tangled up in the tight stuff.

3. Fletcher Newell – 4

Newell found himself pinged in a couple of early important scrums. But Crusaders coach Rob Penney kept his first-string props in play up until the final quarter. Got bounced off by Numia in the Hurricanes heave that lead to the 53rd-minute Tuputupu try.

4. Antonio Shalfoon – 5

Ran the visitors lineout on a night when Hurricanes raider Dearns was an occasional threat to pounce. Spilled the ball on a charge in the 14th minute, but was otherwise accurate in handling and shoving.

5. Tahlor Cahill – 5

Buried Ruben Love on an early run and charged into breakdowns and grunty defensive work throughout his shift.

6. Ethan Blackadder – 4

A&E department regular found himself on the wrong side of the ref in some key breakdown penalty calls.

7. Leicester Fainga’anuku – 7

This “being a forward” stuff is easy, right? The Crusaders’ hybrid experiment bagged a lineout in the fourth minute and managed a couple of fine, old-fashioned turnovers – the one in the 25th minute would have had Richie McCaw nodding happily.

But he’s not out there for traditional work; it’s the fancy handling and running that appeals most about this project. Fainga’anuku was involved in plenty of early handling, testing the Hurricanes’ defensive line. In between darting about at first and second receiver for a bit, the sometime-midfielder knew when to pile in to the forward fray to bag the seventh-minute try.

The Hurricanes loosies were always going to provide a more meaningful test of Fainga’anuku’s loose forward craft than the Waratahs had managed a week ago, and honours were pretty much even with opposite number Kirifi. Fainga’anuku took the ball into contact in his own 22 in the 19th minute, setting up an ill-thought ruck in which the Hurricanes bagged a penalty. Within a minute, the Hurricanes No 7 was scoring under the posts.

8. Christian Lio‑Willie – 6

Managed a clever turnover in the 22nd minute and was at hand for plenty of important surging runs. There’s a bit going on in the loose forward ranks of Super Rugby, and the Crusaders’ resident dentist might have slipped down the rankings, but his efforts are consistently commendable.

9. Noah Hotham – 6

The Crusaders forwards will no doubt have made their teammate aware that any halfback who bleaches their hair better put in a solid shift. Hotham has been terrific for his side in recent weeks, living up to his blond ambition. Against the Canes, he delivered another nippy, energetic show, buffing his CV in a bid to bag the All Blacks No 2 halfback slot ahead of Chief Cortez Ratima. Hotham displayed his snappy pass, and equally effective footwork, highlighted by terrific bit of awareness to dart in and grab a lovely try.

10. Taha Kemara – 5

Kemara was guilty of some inaccurate distribution, but booted the ball smartly in the tedious kicking exchanges.

11. Kurtis MacDonald – 6

Late change made solid work on first grasp at the ball, belting into Hurricanes defenders, and he found good ground in kicking duels.

12. David Havili (c) – 4

Skipper fronted up in his 150th game for the Crusaders. Sometime fullback had no joy with his in-field kicking on a night of boot-tennis, typified by hoofing a 22nd-minute turnover over the dead-ball line and his late crossfield kick that went astray as Crusaders hopes were dwindling. At his best when he’s belting into tight defences to find space for teammates.

13. Dallas McLeod – 5

Crusaders’ spare-parts utility shuffled in from the wing when Braydon Ennor was a late absentee. Put in a typically Crusadery shift of midfield toil of tackling and shoving.

14. Macca Springer – 7

The best winger on the park (if we don’t count the bloke in the No 7 jersey), Springer ran a beauty of a line in the 43rd minute, and made the best of a shonky pass from his skipper Havili in the 56th. Kept himself busy throughout, looking for work and found plenty of space in which to run. Springer topped the chart for running metres with 123m, with Hurricanes Fullback Harkin next best on 63m.

15. Johnny McNicholl – 5

An evening of solid work on defence in a game where regular No 15 Will Jordan might have made a crucial attacking difference. Clever work to snaffle the late intercept that set the platform for Dom Gardiner’s bonus-point try.

Bench

16. George Bell – 5

Bustled out there and charged hard.

17. Jack Sexton – 4

Scrum honours had already gone the way of the Hurricanes by the time reserves got their run.

18. Seb Calder – 4

Late stint of backpedalling.

19. Jamie Hannah – 3

Ran on the field in the 51st minute and survived a shoddy high tackle effort that, on another day, might have landed a card.

20. Dom Gardiner – 6

A typically hard-working Crusader, Gardiner might be wondering why he landed in the bench seat to make room for the No 7 project (some of us were wondering too, mate). but this is a famously ego-less side, and his late try would be compensation.

21. Kyle Preston – 6

A busy shift as the Crusaders put on the late heat to chase an unlikely result.

22. Johnny Lee – 4

Reserve loosie gets a spot on the bench courtesy of the Fainga’anuku experiment. In his late run, he was unable to influence the result.

23. Rivez Reihana – 4

Bagged a try and three conversions, but was a little inaccurate. A missed touch finder from a late penalty pretty much condemned hopes of resurgence.

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