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Hurricanes player ratings vs Crusaders | Super Rugby Pacific

(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Valiant efforts from the Hurricanes’ big names weren’t enough to snap the losing streak in Wellington this afternoon, going down 24-21 to the Crusaders.

They will feel hard done by with how the game ended, but they only have themselves to blame for the amount of handling errors they tallied as well as the soft defence put up on their try line.

It’s a quick turn around for the black and yellow as they play Moana Pasifika on Tuesday, which shapes as a must-win fixture if they’re wanting to avoid tonight’s opposition at the business end of the season.

Here’s how the Hurricanes rated:

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1. Pouri Rakete-Stones – 5/10

A short shift for the loosehead with his departure at the oranges. Managed a dozen tackles and did his job at scrum time.

2. James O’Reilly – 6/10

A late promotion to the run-on side and performed admirably with some dynamic carries down his flank. Didn’t miss a step with his core roles either.

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3. Tyrel Lomax – 6/10

Another week, another 70 minutes for the tighthead. Steadied his side in the set piece and found ways to move traffic with and without the pill.

4. James Blackwell – 5/10

Stood up to the challenge of going toe to toe with an All Black and finished with the most tackles of anyone in a yellow jumper with 14. 

5. Scott Scrafton – 5/10

Took the lead role for a number of the Hurricanes’ pods in the first half and found his front the majority of the time to create clean ball for the next phase. Off at halftime.

6. TK Howden – 5/10

A promising first knock for the Feilding High School product. Clocked up some decent metres from his six runs and only had one miss from his seven tackle attempts. Off for Flanders 10 minutes into the second half.

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7. Du’Plessis Kirifi – 5/10

Made himself known with his actions and voice. Can’t have been happy with the turnovers though, after losing it in contact twice and getting bundled over the sideline after opting not to find grass.  

8. Ardie Savea – 8/10

Another week, another masterclass from the inspirational skipper. Did just about everything you could ask of a player besides getting in on the scoring. Even with the likes of Will Jordan and Richie Mo’unga sharing the stage he was the best on the grass for the full 80.  

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9. Jamie Booth – 7/10

Thrust into the nine jersey with Perenara suffering from back issues. Mixed crisp service with some clever darts that exploited the big boys around the fringes. Emptied the tank before leaving the field at the end of the third quarter.

10. Jackson Garden-Bachop – 5/10

Deferred a lot of the decision making to the All Black outside him, but chipped in when needed with the tactical kicking and floated a lovely pass to give Josh Moorby room to work with. 

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11. Wes Goosen – 5/10

One of the more reliable Hurricanes in recent seasons. Had the odd wrong read which saw Sevu Reece get on his outside, however, the typically zestful winger often had his legs taken from under him by the South African.

12. Jordie Barrett – 7/10

Second time’s the charm for Barrett with 12 on his back. Had a hand in everything for his team this afternoon. When he wasn’t challenging the defence in the front line he was working out of the back field to return the Crusaders clearances. 

13. Billy Proctor – 4/10

A solid defensive effort from the midfielder, but not so much on attack. Was a big reason for Mo’unga having a quiet night, only he negated his hard work by turning it over multiple times when they had the red and blacks on the brink of folding.

14. Julian Savea – 6/10

Was at his rampant best with ball in hand, bumping off George Bridge every time they met and in one instance somehow got out of trouble with four Crusaders on him. He also took a leaf out of Barrett’s book by putting it on the toe for a 50/22. 

15. Josh Moorby – 6/10

A lively performance in only his second match at the Super level. Always seemed to be around the ball and took his meat-pie tally to two after showing some fancy feet.

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Reserves

16. Kianu Kereru-Symes – N/A

17. Pasilio Tosi – N/A

18. Tevita Mafileo – 4/10

Was back-pedalling in nearly all of his scrums forcing Savea to make his mind up quickly.    

19. Caleb Delany – 5/10

Does his best work piggybacking off his teammates’ half breaks. Building nicely with every opportunity. 

20. Devan Flanders – 5/10

Productive in his half an hour of game time.

21. Cam Roigard – 5/10

Had a tough act to follow after a big night from Booth, but kept his side rolling in the right direction.

22. Bailyn Sullivan – 5/10

Didn’t see much ball with the way his forwards were operating.

23. Ruben Love – 5/10

On to go for Garden-Bachop with 10 to go and brought the requisite energy.

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Comments

2 Comments
L
Lloyd 936 days ago

You can get back at me this weekend if we loose to the aucky dorky,s then you can call the crybabie hahaha, we're the campaign of the world,you know that song sing along with me were the campaign of the world, one more time come sing in the dark campaign of the world hehehe, hahaha

L
Lloyd 936 days ago

You lost crybabies Scott Barrett did every right both hands on the ball, he almost out jumped the catcher and it ,and for once the was on our side just think of this we had 4tries disallowed hurricanes didn't even come close enough in the second half crybabies, crybabies, Ardie and Jordie little swoky barbies hahaha Ardie was the problem for once he was to slow and injured that's why he didn't do his job Crusaders Crusaders Crusaders 10,out of 10 hehehe hahaha crybabies

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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