The Hurricanes held on to beat the Waratahs 38-28 in their Super Rugby clash in Wellington last night after first-five Beauden Barrett was red-carded in the second half.
Barrett scored a try but was sent off in the 60th minute for receiving two yellow cards for deliberately knocking the ball down.
Hurricanes' Ngani Laumape scored two of the Hurricanes' six tries. Photo: Photosport
The Waratahs travelled to the New Zealand capital with high hopes of reviving their season but blew any chance of springing a boilover with a diabolical first-half display.
The Tahs trailed 33-7 at the break, while quickfire tries to stand-in fullback Bryce Hegarty and halfback Jake Gordon early in the second half pulled the Waratahs to within 10 points at Westpac Stadium.
But a second five-pointer of the night from Hurricanes centre Ngani Laumape all but secured the hosts' victory on Friday night.
The defeat left Australian sides none from twelve against Kiwi opposition in 2017, with the Waratahs' poor first-half display brutally exposing the gulf in class in trans-Tasman rivalries.
Conceding five tries, the Waratahs trailed by 26 points at the interval after Laumape, brothers Beauden and Jordie Barrett, Wes Goosen and Mark Abbott all crossed for tries.
Hurricanes' Jordie Barrett scores a try. Photo: Photosport
The Waratahs were once again their own worst enemies; dreadful in defence as they missed 27 tackles and were punished repeatedly for dashing out of the line trying to contain the competition's most potent attacking team.
Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson must have been pulling his hair out watching his side commit eight handling errors despite barely having any possession in the opening 40 minutes.
The only try of the half for the Waratahs came from flanker Ned Hanigan when he charged over while the Hurricanes' All Black superstar five-eighth Beauden Barrett was in the sin bin for a deliberate knock-down.
Barrett was red-carded after committing another professional foul late on but the Waratahs were unable to collect a bonus point, with centre Irae Simone was held up over the line after the fulltime siren.
- AAP
