It was a brilliant Saturday Night match-up at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney between the NSW Waratahs v Hurricanes in Week 13 of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific. The home team fired off well with an easy 15-0 lead while the Canes struggled to get the ball rolling. However, the Canes began to make up lost time before they completed their remarkable rebound with the win, as the final score is 18-22.
Unlucky from the Tahs after they fell short by four points on their home turf at Leichhardt Oval. The fire off was fantastic in the 1st half where they accrued up to 15 points ahead of half-time, with two tries from Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco & Dylan Pietsch. But they just couldn’t hold off the momentum going into the last 40, especially when they failed to hold back the Hurricanes resurgence at their own defensive territory. A number of lost penalties and ill-discipline also let them down, especially when Paddy Ryan made a huge tackle on Jordie Barrett’s jaw in the 75th minute and had to be sent off with a straight red card which was disappointing. Not only that, they will also have to cope without their star centre Izaia Perese for a while after he was forced off with a MCL tear at the same time. The Tahs’ next match for Round 14 will be against the Highlanders next Sunday at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Meanwhile, how good was the Hurricanes on their comeback trail from a scoreless first-half to a unbelievable win away from home? Now they will still need to deal with the slow starts where the Waratahs exposed them with 15 points being conceded in the opening 40. But the way they made up lost time later on & be able to close it off with a win is such fantastic rugby to watch. There’s credit to their forward pack, especially with the 7 & 8s partnership on the back row from Du’Plessis Kirifi and Ardie Savea. A number of fresh faces off the bench also helped their cause, including Tevita Mafileo at loosehead, where the Canes were just simply a different beast this time around. They will return home to Sky Stadium in Wellington for their last regular-season home game of 2022 v Melbourne Rebels on next Saturday night.