The Crusaders bounce back to thrash the Hurricanes

March 29, 2019
1468
Ultimate Rugby

The Hurricanes copped the full brunt of the Crusaders' backlash in Wellington when the two sides faced off in round 7 of Super Rugby.

The Canterbury side saw their 20 game winning streak ended against the Waratahs last week with the defending Champions having an uncharacteristic match that saw them make a number of errors.

However, Scott Robertson's side bounced back and put in a clinical performance to trash the Hurricanes 8-32 in the Cake Tin.

The win was the Crusaders first away win over the Hurricanes since 2012 and it was the first time the Hurricanes were held to single digits since the Highlanders in Round 1 of 2011.

8 - @CrusadersRugby are the first team since the Highlanders in Round 1, 2011 - and the third team ever - to keep the Hurricanes to single figures at home in a @SuperRugby fixture. Siege.#HURvCRU pic.twitter.com/fcR50LgfGf
— OptaJason (@OptaJason) March 29, 2019

David Havili looks to be back in the similar form that led to his call up to the All Blacks squad in 2017 as he scored two tries, albeit one off the blunder of Tiatia. Havili also topped the line-break column and was second behind Ben Lam with 73 metres gained with ball in hand.

Centre Jack Goodhue was instrumental on defence making 16 tackles and did well keeping the dangerous Hurricanes midfield at bay, the All Black also topped the offloads statistics.

Scott Barrett joined Goodhue as the top tackler while also providing the Crusaders a solid line-out option and linked well with his backs during open play.

The Hurricanes were punished for their errors while Ben Lam was probably the best Hurricane player, closely follow by the inform Ardie Savea. Lam topped the metres gained statistics with a massive 82m with ball in hand.