Hurricanes centre Jordie Barrett caught the eye with a superb offload in the build-up to a try in his side’s 27-26 victory over the Crusaders in their Super Rugby Pacific clash in Wellington on Saturday.
With the Crusaders holding a 19-3 lead in the closing stages of the opening half, the Hurricanes were on the attack deep inside their opponents’ territory when Barrett ran onto a pass from Brett Cameron.
With the defence closing in on him, Barrett did brilliantly to draw in Leicester Fainga’anuku and Richie Mo’unga before offloading to his centre partner, Billy Proctor, who cantered in for his try.
👏 Excellent offload from Jordie Barrett to Billy Proctor as the Hurricanes strike back against the Crusaders! #SuperRugbyPacific #HURvCRU pic.twitter.com/Wqt4fTM82X
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) June 3, 2023
Click here for teams and scorers
That score was an important one as it boosted the Hurricanes‘ confidence and they came out firing in the second half.
Earlier, the Crusaders had raced into a 12-0 lead midway through the opening period after Fainga’anuku and Codie Taylor had crossed for tries and Mo’unga added one conversion.
The Hurricanes narrowed the gap courtesy of a Barrett penalty in the 27th minute but the defending champions struck back in the 30th minute when Braydon Ennor crossed for another converted five-pointer.
After the interval, the Hurricanes took control of proceedings and on the half hour-mark Cam Roigard dotted down with Cameron slotting the conversion, which meant the Crusaders were now holding a slender 19-15 lead.
They continued to dominate as the half progressed and took the lead for the first time when Josh Moorby went over for their third five-pointer in the 68th minute.
Five minutes later, they sealed their win when Brayden Iose crossed the whitewash although the Crusaders finished stronger and were rewarded when Chay Fihaki scored a try in the game’s dying moments which was converted by Mo’unga.
Photo credit: Super Rugby Pacific
Click Here: stade francais rugby jerseys