Hurricanes too good for Stormers
Defending Super Rugby champions, Hurricanes, held off a gritty fightback from the Stormers to extend their winning home run to 11 matches Friday.
The Hurricanes scored seven tries to one in the 41-22 victory, including two apiece for Jordie Barrett and Ngani Laumape, to inflict the Stormers' fourth straight loss.
Stormers captain Siya Kolisi admitted it was a disappointing end to their three-match New Zealand tour but took heart from a much-improved performance.
"We were playing really good rugby, then we make one mistake and they're going for 80-metre tries," he said.
While the South Africans conceded 57 points in each of their previous two outings, they were in the match until a late three-try burst from the Hurricanes.
"They frustrated us a little bit, I've no doubt that they'll be there at the back end of the season," Hurricanes captain TJ Perenara said.
The Stormers still lead the Africa 1 conference and the Hurricanes move up to second in the New Zealand standings behind the unbeaten Canterbury Crusaders.
It was the Hurricanes' sixth consecutive win and maintains New Zealand teams' unblemished home record against overseas opposition this season.
The Stormers applied early pressure but could only score a penalty before gifting the Hurricanes a try in the ninth minute when Dilyn Leyds' kick was charged down.
Wellington pounced on the mistake, with Beauden Barrett sending up a cross-field kick to set up the try for winger Cory Jane.
It was the first of four first-half tries for the home side, with Julian Savea contributing one and Jordie Barrett scoring a brace.
His first came when he stole the ball from Nizaam Carr as the hooker tried to clear the ball from his own in-goal area and the second stemmed from a perfectly weighted kick by brother Beauden.
The Stormers clawed their way back through their forwards, who set up a lineout drive to take hooker Ramone Samuels across for a try.
Full-back SP Marais then kicked two penalties to made it 22-16 at the break.
Another two penalties after the restart levelled the scores at 22-22, with the Stormers forced to dig deep in defence to keep the Hurricanes at bay.
Ngani Laumape finally broke through after the Hurricanes won a scrum then scored another six minutes from time off the back of Julian Savea's run from his own tryline.
Beauden Barrett blew out the scoreline further with another five-pointer after the siren.
Stormers captain Siya Kolisi admitted it was a disappointing end to their three-match New Zealand tour but took heart from a much-improved performance.
"We were playing really good rugby, then we make one mistake and they're going for 80-metre tries," he said.
While the South Africans conceded 57 points in each of their previous two outings, they were in the match until a late three-try burst from the Hurricanes.
"They frustrated us a little bit, I've no doubt that they'll be there at the back end of the season," Hurricanes captain TJ Perenara said.
The Stormers still lead the Africa 1 conference and the Hurricanes move up to second in the New Zealand standings behind the unbeaten Canterbury Crusaders.
It was the Hurricanes' sixth consecutive win and maintains New Zealand teams' unblemished home record against overseas opposition this season.
The Stormers applied early pressure but could only score a penalty before gifting the Hurricanes a try in the ninth minute when Dilyn Leyds' kick was charged down.
Wellington pounced on the mistake, with Beauden Barrett sending up a cross-field kick to set up the try for winger Cory Jane.
It was the first of four first-half tries for the home side, with Julian Savea contributing one and Jordie Barrett scoring a brace.
His first came when he stole the ball from Nizaam Carr as the hooker tried to clear the ball from his own in-goal area and the second stemmed from a perfectly weighted kick by brother Beauden.
The Stormers clawed their way back through their forwards, who set up a lineout drive to take hooker Ramone Samuels across for a try.
Full-back SP Marais then kicked two penalties to made it 22-16 at the break.
Another two penalties after the restart levelled the scores at 22-22, with the Stormers forced to dig deep in defence to keep the Hurricanes at bay.
Ngani Laumape finally broke through after the Hurricanes won a scrum then scored another six minutes from time off the back of Julian Savea's run from his own tryline.
Beauden Barrett blew out the scoreline further with another five-pointer after the siren.
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre