Hurricanes send message with thumping of Tahs

03/28/2025 05:29 AM

WRAP: The Hurricanes have blown away the Waratahs 57-12 in Wellington.

The Waratahs started both halves with tries but that was all they could celebrate as they were dominated by the hosts.

Winger Kini Naholo crossed for a hat-trick as the Hurricanes were back in the form that won them the minor premiership last year.

In total, the Hurricanes scored 35 unanswered points to run away with the contest.

The Waratahs had high hopes of notching a first win in the New Zealand capital in a decade but will instead return home to Sydney with tails between their legs - and some huge injury concerns.

Cashing in on the first-half loss of NSW backline keys Max Jorgensen and playmaking flyhalf Lawson Creighton, the Hurricanes piled on eight tries to two in Wellington on Friday night.

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But coach Dan McKellar will likely be far more concerned about a suspected serious ankle injury for Jorgensen than the half century of points his side leaked.

The star fullback looked to fall victim to a hip-drop tackle before being escorted off the field in the 13th minute.

Creighton and winger Darby Lancaster also failed to see out the half before the Hurricanes turned a 12-point advantage into a runaway victory to jump from eighth to sixth on the ladder.

After opening the scoring with an early try to Creighton, the Waratahs were still in the contest, trailing by 24-12, until another big turning point 10 minutes into the second half.

Stand-in skipper Joey Walton was yellow-carded for cynically trying to pull down a Hurricanes maul, prompting the referee to award the home team a penalty try and send Walton to the sin bin.

There was no coming back as the Tahs conceded 19 points for Walton's sin.

The Hurricanes raced out to an insurmountable 45-12 lead, then added two more tries to rub salt into the wound.

Hurricanes 57-12 Waratahs

Scorers:

For Hurricanes:
Tries: Naholo 3, Roigard, Aumua, Penalty try, Punivai, Shields, Sullivan
Cons: Hohepa 4, Love

Waratahs:
Tries: Creighton, Saunders
Cons: Creighton

Teams:

Hurricanes: 15 Ruben Love, 14 Ngatungane Punivai, 13 Bailyn Sullivan, 12 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 11 Kini Naholo, 10 Riley Hohepa, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 DuPlessis Kirifi (co-captain), 6 Brayden Iose, 5 Zach Gallagher, 4 Caleb Delany, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Asafo Aumua (co-captain), 1 Xavier Numia.
Replacements: 16 Jacob Devery, 17 Pouri Rakete-Stones, 18 Tevita Mafileo, 19 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 20 Brad Shields, 21 Jordi Viljoen, 22 Fatafehi Fineanganofo, 23 Kade Banks.

Waratahs: 15 Max Jorgensen, 14 Archie Saunders, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Joey Walton (captain), 11 Derby Lancaster, 10 Lawson Creighton, 9 Teddy Wilson, 8 Langi Gleeson, 7 Charlie Gamble, 6 Rob Leota, 5 Miles Amatosero, 4 Ben Grant, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Julian Heaven, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Dobbins, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Daniel Botha, 19 Felix Kalapu, 20 Jamie Adamson, 21 Jack Grant, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Lalakai Foketi.

Referee: Damon Murphy
Assistant referees: Marcus Playle, Jeremy Markey
TMO: Brett Cronan