By Melissa Woods
Western Force were left to rue a poor first half after falling just short against the Hurricanes, with the Super Rugby Pacific heavyweights taking a 45-42 win in Palmerston North on Sunday.
Hunting their third win for the season, the Perth side showed their grit to stay in the fight against the Wellington outfit in the regional city but were unable to peg back a 19-point halftime deficit.
They scored five second-half tries – a 79th-minute effort by reserve playmaker Jake Strachan securing a valuable bonus point.
The Hurricanes then kept the ball alive as they tried to claw it back but five minutes into overtime Force speedster Zach Kibirige dotted down at the other end.
Stand-in skipper Gareth Simpson said he was pleased with the fight his team had shown after three tough weeks in New Zealand.
“We’ve been there and thereabouts in our three games so far and it’s good to finish that off quite strong,” the halfback told Stan Sport.
Salesi Rayasi of the Hurricanes is tackled during the round 6 match.Credit:Getty
“We’re disappointed with the result but it’s good to take something away from it.
“There’s still lots of stuff to work on, we don’t want to be 19 points down at halftime, but this is a team that never dies and this team has something special.”
The Hurricanes, who leapfrogged the Brumbies into second spot on the ladder on the back of the win, were missing Ardie Savea with the All Blacks ace rested from the clash.
But they didn’t skip a beat early on, racing to a 14-0 lead after seven minutes with backrowers Du’Plessis Kirifi and Brayden Iose touching down.
The second one came from a lineout with a short throw by Dane Coles landing back in his arms with the hooker darting down the short side before finding No.8 Iose.
The Force hit back in the ninth minute when their patience was rewarded with lock Jeremy Williams crashing over after nine phases.
Test veteran Coles himself claimed the home side’s third try from a lineout drive before a second try by Iose pushed the margin out to 26-7 by halftime.
With errors and penalties hurting the Force, the Hurricanes were first on the scoreboard in the second half with centre Bailyn Sullivan touching down.
The visitors continued to rally, with Simpson scrambling across the line after a surging run by his centre Bayley Kuenzle.
Simpson also had a hand in Kibirige’s first try, with the winger beating three defenders to take a pin-point kick into the in-goal.
While they were unable to close the margin the West Australians can at least return home with some confidence after pushing the home side with their late surge.
Hurricanes skipper Coles was impressed that the Force refused to go away.
“We showed at times we’re a pretty good side but credit to the Force; they’ve got great spirit in their team and kept turning up,” Coles said.
“We’re stoked to get the win but disappointed about the bonus point, we could have had that.”
AAP
