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Hurricanes fans furious with alleged referee blunder in semi-final loss

Hurricanes' TJ Perenara appeals to referee Nic Berry during the Super Rugby semi-final at the Crusaders (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

The Hurricanes suffered a heartbreaking defeat to the Crusaders in a thrilling Super Rugby semi-final that was made even worse with a controversial call during the dying stages of the game, according to The New Zealand Herald.

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With less than two minutes remaining on the clock, the Hurricanes were in a position to launch an attack in the opposition 22, but referee Nic Berry called a knock on against TJ Perenara to put an end to their hopes as the Crusaders took the match 30-26.

What made matters worse for Hurricanes fans was that it appeared Crusaders lock Sam Whitelock had reached over at the breakdown and swiped the ball from Perenara’s grasp.

It was a result-settling intervention, as the referee ruled in the Crusaders’ favour, allowing the home side clinch the win that will see them host Argentine side Jaguares in the final next Saturday.

The outcome left Hurricanes fans taking to social media to express their frustrations at their team getting “robbed” of an upset win. Here is what was said:

https://twitter.com/wee_bam85/status/1144904030151421952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1144904030151421952&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nzherald.co.nz%2Fsport%2Fnews%2Farticle.cfm%3Fc_id%3D4%26objectid%3D12245157

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Desp1ite the controversial finish, fans were treated to one of the best games of the Super Rugby season – with the Hurricanes putting up a strong challenge right until the final whistle. In the end, the Crusaders showed how difficult it is to beat them at home.

The hosts broke out to a fast start, going up by three points in as many minutes before a brilliant cross-kick from Ryan Crotty found winger Sevu Reece in the corner for the opening try of the match in the 13th minute.

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The Crusaders outran Hurricanes by 100 metres in the first half, with the Hurricanes making far more tackles. However, the Crusaders kept the door open – with 12 turnovers conceded in the first half.

It was a different story in the second half as the game opened up and both sides played fluid, attacking football. Ultimately, though, the Crusaders hung on and booked their place in the final thanks to Whitelock’s key moment.

WATCH: Knocked, episode one on the RugbyPass series Beyond 80 which focuses on the issue of concussion

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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