Skipper Ardie Savea has saved the day for the Hurricanes with a late try securing a 22-18 win over the Waratahs in a pulsating Super Rugby Pacific clash in Sydney.
The Waratahs led 15-0 at halftime and held the lead until the 75th minute when Savea scrambled over the line for the match-winning try on Saturday night.
It robbed NSW of victory in front of a large and vocal crowd at Leichhardt Oval, which harked back to their glory days, and also put a dent in their hunt for a top-four finish.
The win allowed the Hurricanes to leapfrog the Waratahs into fourth.
NSW looked like they would fly the flag for Australian rugby after the Brumbies, Reds and Western Force fell to their Kiwi rivals.
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As well as the heartbreaking loss, in-form centre Izaia Perese limped from the field with a suspected MCL and is now in doubt for the Wallabies Test series against England in early July.
“It feels like it got away from us that game,” Waratah s skipper Jake Gordon told Stan Sport.
“We controlled possession in the first half but they came out of the blocks really quickly in that second half and we had trouble controlling that.
“We had opportunities to complete and we didn’t.”
The teams were level at 15-15 until a Ben Donaldson penalty in the 68th minute put NSW ahead.
The buffer wasn’t enough and despite some desperate defence, All Blacks back-rower Savea climbed off the deck after a heavy knock to do the damage.
Savea said his team he couldn’t repeat what was said in the halftime talk but it worked.
“We talked about taking it moment by moment and we did that and got ourselves back into the game,” he said. “The win is very important coming into the back end of the competition.”
NSW had to play the final three minutes a man down with prop Paddy Ryan red-carded for a high shot on Jordie Barrett.
