Savea was one of five players, including his brother Julian, All Blacks players Cory Jane and Victor Vito, and prop Chris Eves, who missed the Hurricanes’ most-recent match against the Queensland Reds after being stood down for missing a team curfew during their tour to South Africa.
Advertisement
The Highlanders had won the previous two Super Rugby matches between the teams including last year’s Super Rugby final in Wellington.
The Highlanders made the stronger start and it was against the run of play that they conceded the first try.
But it was the Hurricanes who grabbed the next points, a Barrett penalty giving them a 17-7 half-time lead.
Hurricanes skipper Dane Coles tries to break the Reds tackle. “I’m really proud of the boys, everyone was writing us off for this match but there’s still a long way to go”. The Highlanders had a territorial advantage early as both teams favoured a kicking strategy in heavy rain.
The home side produced a swift counter-attack from deep and, just as the move was about to break down, Savea snapped up the loose ball to score.
Barrett, on his 25th birthday, added his second conversion and it was suddenly 14-0.
The 27-20 victory means the Hurricanes leapfrog the Highlanders into third place in the New Zealand conference with the Highlanders now fourth.
Sopoaga scored a try to help the Highlanders come back from 14 down and it’s now 17 – 17 entering the final half hour.
Lima Sopoaga and Dan Lienert-Brown scored tries for the 2015 champions, which Sopoaga converted while the flyhalf and his replacement Marty Banks both slotted penalties.
Advertisement
By the 50-minute mark, the Highlanders had drawn level.
