Hurricanes sneak past Highlanders

The Hurricanes managed to sneak past the Highlanders in a tightly-contested 23-19 victory in Dunedin on Friday, 15 March 2013.

The match saw a back-and-forth affair unfold, with both teams applying the pressure on one another.

The Highlanders were defending well, but it eventually cracked, and the first try came through Conrad Smith, who took the ball short to crash over on the left-hand side.

The Hurricanes struck again, as Ben Franks was on the end of a Vito break. Franks did have some work to do though, as he was faced with beating Ben Smith. Franks showed great strength to break the tackle of Smith and score in the corner.

The Highlanders did manage to hit back through Hosea Gear, who busted Beauden Barrett’s tackle off of a set move to score under the posts.

TJ Perenara showed his skill and strength to swivel out of a number of tackles and secure the Hurricanes with another 5-pointer.

The Highlanders managed to break the Hurricanes defence on multiple occasions, but just couldn’t finish their attacking opportunities, allowing the visitors to run down the clock and seal the victory.

Scorers:

Highlanders:
Try: Gear
Con: Slade
Pens: Slade 4

Hurricanes:
Tries: Smith, Franks, Perenara
Con: Barrett
Pens: Barrett 2