Sport 16 Ashburton Guardian
www.guardianonline.co.nz
Monday, February 10, 2020
■■RUGBY
■■RUGBY
Canes get out of jail
England ‘win ugly’
By Christopher Reive The Hurricanes have pulled a rabbit out of the hat. Well contained for 70 minutes, it took just two passages of play for the side to get back in the game and ultimately steal a 26-23 win over the Jaguares in Argentina. After a dismal showing for against the Stormers a week ago, there were signs of improvement for the Hurricanes. Jordie Barrett was heavily involved in the play, often slotting in at first receiver, while Ngani Laumpae and Billy Proctor found some success in the middle. But for the most part, any attack the Hurricanes launched was well contained by the Jaguares, who bodied up well on defence and did plenty of good work at the breakdown to see off most threats. The Hurricanes attack was at most stagnant, side-to-side affair that was easily smothered and slowed down. It wasn’t until front rower Alex Fidow crashed over in the 71st minute from close range after a scrum penalty that the Hurricanes looked like they could actually win the game, with some late heroics from Laumape, Vaea Fifita and Jamie Booth sealing an improbable victory. The Jaguares were left to rue lapses in discipline which kept the Hurricanes in the match in the first half. Three penalties leading to nine points from the boot of Barrett – one struck through easily from 63m out – flatted the Hurricanes’ efforts in the first half, as they struggled to provide much of a test with ball in hand.
Jordie Barrett kicked two conversions and four penalties for the Hurricanes.
It was a different story for the Jaguares, who looked dangerous when they had room to move and found success on the Hurricanes’ edges, with Matias Moroni and Emiliano Boffelli asking plenty of questions of the visitors’ defence. Halfback Tomas Cubelli orchestrated the Jaguares attack nicely – distributing the ball well and putting a strong box kicking game to good use. The hosts were rewarded for their early work when flanker Marcos Kremer was put through a gaping hole in the defence, storming across the line untouched.
Leading 10-9 at the break, the Jaguares went straight on the attack with the wind at their backs after halftime, again testing the Hurricanes line. Boffelli looked to have a try in the corner early in the period, however replays showed Barrett’s cover defence was enough to force the Jaguares winger to drag his foot over the touch line before planting the ball. It proved to be an important play in the swing of things, despite replacement hooker Agustin Creevy scoring from a lineout drive not long after. Down 23-12 after another
Barrett penalty, the Hurricanes looked on track to not only start with two losses, but to go without a try in their opening matches. But simply having the ball in the Jaguares’ half and being in a position to make the hosts defend finally came to something for the visitors; with Fidow crashing over before Booth sealed the win. Hurricanes 26 (Alex Fidow, Jamie Booth tries; Jordie Barrett 2 cons, 4 pens) Jaguares 23 (Marcos Kremer, Agustin Creevy tries; Domingo Miotti 2 cons, 3 pens) HT: 9-10
Gatland’s influence clear in Chiefs win British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland continued to make a bold impression in Super Rugby as he guided the Chiefs to a 25-15 win over three-time defending champions the Crusaders in an all-New Zealand matchup on Saturday. The game pitted Gatland against Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, an applicant for the All Blacks coaching role last year and a man many New Zealanders believed should have been given the job. The Crusaders, Super Rugby’s most successful team, made an explosive beginning with two tries inside the first 15 minutes to All Blacks winger Sevu Reece, and looked set to dominate the game. Playing with little possession, the Chiefs managed to score a try of their own and went to halftime only four points down at 12-8. They seized the lead with another try only three minutes into the second spell which gave them the lead for the first time.
The Crusaders levelled the scores with a penalty but the Chiefs pulled away again with a try to winger Sean Wainui and held out waves of Crusaders attacks. A penalty by flyhalf Aaron Cruden in the 78th minute meant the Crusaders had to score twice to win and they weren’t up to the task. Gatland’s Chiefs have started the new season with two wins from two. The Crusaders have only lost two of their last 16 derby matches against New Zealand teams and both of those were to the Chiefs, the first a loss in Suva, Fiji, last year. “The thing you notice about these derbies and these matches that have a bit riding on them is that they’re personal,” Chiefs captain Sam Cane said. “They’re physical, they’re brutal and there were some key moments in that game that could have gone either way.
“But there were some big defensive efforts tonight and we just stuck at it.” One of the biggest defensive efforts came from Cane himself who made many crucial tackles and forced turnovers. Cruden was again a steadying influence on the Chiefs, as was All Blacks fullback Damian McKenzie who played his first match of the season and acted as a second playmaker. Later in South Africa, the Stormers moved to the top of the overall standings after going their first two games – 160-plus minutes of rugby – without conceding a point. The Stormers beat South African rivals the Bulls 13-0 at home in Cape Town with tries by hooker Scarra Ntubeni and wing Seabelo Senatla. The Stormers’ story so far has been their defence and they wouldn’t budge again despite the Bulls having scrummaging superiority in the first half and
long periods of pressure in the second. Veteran Wales and British and Irish Lions center Jamie Roberts, a new signing for the Stormers, showed his value again to marshal a defensive line that gave the Bulls few openings. The Stormers opened their campaign last weekend with a 27-0 shutout of New Zealand’s Hurricanes. For the first time in their 25year history, the New South Wales Waratahs lost consecutive matches to start the season after being defeated 32-12 by the Blues in Newcastle, north of Sydney. The Blues ran in five tries to the Waratahs’ two to seal the bonus-point victory. It was the New Zealand side’s fifth straight win over the Waratahs. The Lions bounced back from an opening-weekend loss to the Jaguares to hold off the Queensland Reds 27-20 in Johannesburg.
England 13 Scotland 6 The plastic bottle that struck one of Eddie Jones’s assistants on the head as England arrived at Murrayfield at least saved us from banging on about the weather. It was a reprehensible act, and a sign that ramping up hostility for theatrical effect is not without consequences. England’s coach was not de-escalating as he switched from not wanting to answer questions about the Ireland game to a final dig at Scotland, a country he has never been slow to provoke (only this week he called them “niggly.”) After Neil Craig was struck by the plastic missile, solitary-sex gestures were aimed at the England squad, and their goal-kicking was booed, Jones observed tartly: “There is a new level of respect in Scotland which we have got to put up with.” As sideshows go, in football it would not register highly. In rugby, it marked a crossing of a line Jones has pushed in search of an edge. Not that he should be blamed for a bottle being thrown. But it showed the potential volatility of Anglo-Scottish relations in these strained political times. The game itself may have set some kind of record for the least amount of rugby in an 80-minute contest, but England will be happy with that. The result was pro-Jones, whose reign was fraying before another try-line error by Stuart Hogg opened the gates for a win so ugly it should never show itself again. With England’s credibility cracking, along came a storm to turn this Calcutta Cup match into a test of their ability to outwit wind. South Africa and France put your future in doubt – then you find yourself battling against mother nature to keep a head coach’s career on track. “Today was a test of leadership – how you adapt to the conditions, and I thought today our leadership was outstanding,” Jones said, in a frosty press conference at which he kept saying “no comment” before warming up, slightly. Scotland-England is seldom a dramatic spectacle. Last year’s momentous 38-38 draw at Twickenham was the exception that proves that rule. Piled high with baggage, the game is long on history and often short on aesthetic merit. This time Murrayfield doubled up as a ravaged film set with flags straining at their poles and high kicks working more like boomerangs, rising and then spinning back towards the kicker. It was the workout England needed: a chance to think clearly and adapt, which they were unable to do in the World Cup final against the Springboks and in Paris last weekend. Ireland are England’s biggest remaining test in this Championship. Only then will see whether this win in Edinburgh was a catharsis or a pause in their troubles.
