{"id":22031,"date":"2025-02-07T19:03:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T06:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/?p=22031"},"modified":"2025-02-08T11:56:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T22:56:20","slug":"hurricanes-beat-blues-five-tries-to-three-in-community-pre-season-match-at-wainuiomata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2025\/02\/07\/hurricanes-beat-blues-five-tries-to-three-in-community-pre-season-match-at-wainuiomata\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricanes beat Blues five tries to three in community pre-season match at Wainuiomata"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Hurricanes 31<\/strong>\u00a0(Kini Naholo, Billy Proctor, Riley Higgins, Fehi Fineanganofo, Peter Lakai tries; Harry Godfrey con; Riley Hohepa 2 con)<br \/>\nbeat the\u00a0<strong>Blues 19\u00a0<\/strong>(Taufa Funaki, Cameron Suafoa, Patrick Tuipulotu, \u00a0Beauden Barrett con, Harry Plummer con). <strong>Halftime: 12-7.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Hurricanes put out the full house sign at William Jones Park three days ago for their one and only community pre-season fixture this season.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The many supporters in attendance this afternoon in bright sunshine left happy, their team running out 31-19 winners against the Super Rugby defending champions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MJrkOKO7PgY?si=gKEKwMHABIGeLvp4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The Blues scored the game\u2019s first try and the final two, but the Hurricanes ran in all 31 points unanswered in between.<\/p>\n<p>The Blues made a strong start to the match, holding possession and building phases. The Hurricanes did well to hang on, but the visitors soon scored the game\u2019s first try through halfback Taufa Funaki. Former Hurricanes flyhalf Beauden Barrett added the extras for a 7-0 lead.<\/p>\n<p>The Hurricanes continued \u00a0on the back foot over the next period, until a breakout by popular hometown player and second-five Peter Umaga-Jensen led to No. 8 Brayden Iose being bundled into touch inside the opposing 22.<\/p>\n<p>The Hurricanes won a turnover and maintained possession as the Blues lost a player to the sin-bin, which soon led to their first try to left wing Kini Naholo off an attacking scrum. First-five Harry Godfrey kicked the conversion and it was 7-7.<\/p>\n<p>In the 33<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0minute, the Hurricanes scored the try of the match, with halfback Cam Roigard making a break up the centre of the field off a scrum and hurling a lovely pass across to Naholo who in turn found centre Billy Proctor on his inside in support to score the try at the southern end of the ground.<\/p>\n<p>This made it 12-7, the halftime score, although the Blues missed a couple of clear chances to equalise later in the half, a lack of patience knocking them back at least twice and a turnover under his posts by Hurricanes flanker Du Plessis Kirifi saving the day.<\/p>\n<p>The second half kicked off with both sides starting to make numerous changes to their line-ups. The Hurrricanes brought 41 players to this match, and all were eventually used.<\/p>\n<p>The Blues lost their second player to the sin-bin two minutes in, when fullback Zarn Sullivan slapped the ball away in his in-goal after a kick and chase by Roigard.<\/p>\n<p>Crisis averted, the Blues muscled up and should have scored off an attacking lineout but conceded a penalty whilst hot on attack.<\/p>\n<p>Play ebbed and flowed between the 22s for the next 10 minutes, both teams making unforced errors and defences holding.<\/p>\n<p>The Hurricanes then scored two tries in as many minutes, mostly against the run of play.<\/p>\n<p>In the 62<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0minute, the Hurricanes struck with their third try, after first-five Riley Hohepa chipped over the top of the Blues\u2019 backs from his 22. This was kicked on and regathered and midfielder Riley Higgins flew in to score. Hohepa added the extras to put the home team up 19-7.<\/p>\n<p>Two minutes later, wing Fehi Fineanganofo reined in another kick and chase and ran 50 metres up the far touchline to score their fourth try. This made it 24-7.<\/p>\n<p>Openside flanker Peter Lakai then intercepted a poor pass in centre field and ran 40 metres untouched to score a runaway try under the posts, to extend their lead to 31-7.<\/p>\n<p>The Blues scored their second try with three minutes to play then again on fulltime to All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu.<\/p>\n<p>The Hurricanes open their 2025 Super Rugby season proper next weekend against the Crusaders in Christchurch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hurricanes 31\u00a0(Kini Naholo, Billy Proctor, Riley Higgins, Fehi Fineanganofo, Peter Lakai tries; Harry Godfrey con; Riley Hohepa 2 con) beat the\u00a0Blues 19\u00a0(Taufa Funaki, Cameron Suafoa, Patrick Tuipulotu, \u00a0Beauden Barrett con, Harry Plummer con). Halftime: 12-7. The Hurricanes put out the full house sign at William Jones Park three days ago for their one and only&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":22032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugbyheartland-news","category-super-rugby"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peter-Lakai-try-1.jpg?fit=900%2C595&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4wlzH-5Jl","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2242,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2015\/02\/25\/junior-hurricanes-blitz-blues-in-taupo-fixture\/","url_meta":{"origin":22031,"position":0},"title":"Junior Hurricanes blitz Blues in Taupo fixture","author":"admin_hland","date":"February 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Follow @RedefinedRugby A Hurricanes Under-20 selection has recovered from a sluggish start to thrash the Blues 38-13 at Owen Delany Park in Taupo this afternoon. Initially the Hurricanes struggled. They were overwhelmed by a bigger Blues pack at scrum time and surrendered early lineouts. The Blues were rewarded with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;RugbyHeartland News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"RugbyHeartland News","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/rugbyheartland-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rhlad_news1.jpg?fit=1024%2C356&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rhlad_news1.jpg?fit=1024%2C356&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rhlad_news1.jpg?fit=1024%2C356&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rhlad_news1.jpg?fit=1024%2C356&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2171,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2015\/01\/31\/great-big-tui-cup-up-for-grabs-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":22031,"position":1},"title":"Great Big Tui Cup up for grabs today &#8230;","author":"admin_hland","date":"January 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Follow @RedefinedRugby LIVE RADIO STREAM Today Hurricanes vs Crusaders from Eketahuna \u2026. http:\/\/streaming.radioeketahuna.co.nz\/ The Hurricanes have played a special pre-season fixture in the Wairarapa every year since 2010. This year's game in Eketahuna will be the sixth consecutive clash over the hill and the fourth with the Great Big Tui\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;RugbyHeartland News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"RugbyHeartland News","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/rugbyheartland-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rhlad_news1.jpg?fit=1024%2C356&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rhlad_news1.jpg?fit=1024%2C356&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rhlad_news1.jpg?fit=1024%2C356&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rhlad_news1.jpg?fit=1024%2C356&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13707,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2021\/04\/11\/crusaders-impressive-on-opening-day-of-u20s-tournament\/","url_meta":{"origin":22031,"position":2},"title":"Crusaders impressive on opening day of U20s tournament","author":"admin_hland","date":"April 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Continuing the franchise's remarkable record, the Crusaders Under 20 squad sent out a warning to rivals at the Bunnings Warehouse Super Rugby Aotearoa Under 20s played in Taupo on Sunday. Up against the Blues in their first game, the southern side showed great discipline and control to punish the Blues'\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;RugbyHeartland News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"RugbyHeartland News","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/rugbyheartland-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/170876995_3858789187553769_4432020635971256814_n.jpg?fit=960%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/170876995_3858789187553769_4432020635971256814_n.jpg?fit=960%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/170876995_3858789187553769_4432020635971256814_n.jpg?fit=960%2C960&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/170876995_3858789187553769_4432020635971256814_n.jpg?fit=960%2C960&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22214,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2025\/03\/05\/hurricanes-team-namingrd4-vs-moana-pasifika\/","url_meta":{"origin":22031,"position":3},"title":"HURRICANES Team Naming | RD4 vs Moana Pasifika","author":"Kevin Hare","date":"March 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hurricanes\u00a0Team Naming Ruben Love returns to start against Moana Pasifika for Round 4. Hurricane #277, Ruben Love, is returning to the field post injury to play in his first game of the 2025 DHL Super Rugby season. Love, made his debut for the All Blacks in 2024 and will bring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;RugbyHeartland News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"RugbyHeartland News","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/rugbyheartland-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wk4-Hurricanes.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wk4-Hurricanes.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wk4-Hurricanes.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wk4-Hurricanes.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wk4-Hurricanes.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11786,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2020\/06\/14\/blues-30-v-20-hurricanes\/","url_meta":{"origin":22031,"position":4},"title":"Blues 30 v 20 Hurricanes","author":"admin_hland","date":"June 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Blues 30 Hurricanes 20 Pumped up home team revel in packed stadium by Lynn McConnell Showing more of the confidence that marked their improvement in the regular season, the Blues revelled in a packed stadium to beat the Hurricanes 30-20 in their Super Rugby Aotearoa game at Eden Park on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;RugbyHeartland News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"RugbyHeartland News","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/rugbyheartland-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1249496562612x612.jpg?fit=612%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1249496562612x612.jpg?fit=612%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1249496562612x612.jpg?fit=612%2C408&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19982,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2023\/12\/05\/action-filled-afternoons-set-for-sky-super-rugby-aupiki\/","url_meta":{"origin":22031,"position":5},"title":"Action filled afternoons set for Sky Super Rugby Aupiki","author":"admin_hland","date":"December 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Family-friendly afternoon kick offs are the feature of an extended 2024 Sky Super Rugby Aupiki draw announced by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and the Super Clubs today. Players are already immersed in a newly extended pre-season training window ahead of a season and with every match played at 2.05pm or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;RugbyHeartland News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"RugbyHeartland News","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/rugbyheartland-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/aupiki.jpg?fit=1200%2C612&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/aupiki.jpg?fit=1200%2C612&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/aupiki.jpg?fit=1200%2C612&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/aupiki.jpg?fit=1200%2C612&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/aupiki.jpg?fit=1200%2C612&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22031"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22034,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22031\/revisions\/22034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}