S4, R4: Crabs vs. Hurricanes (vBookie)

34.15

Scrum to the Hurricanes 25m out from the Crabs line. Good scrum.

Pilgrim to Ames. Ames fancies the run, and he palms Furball out of the way. He gains about 10m before passing to Weaver. Weaver to Fung under pressure from Burger. Fung back to Weaver.

Weaver tackled by Hurricane, but Lover and Denton secure clean ball for the Hurricanes.

Pilgrim spreads the ball again. It comes to Son out wide and he gains 5m before passing back infield. None of the backs have anywhere to go, so Fittaman tries to crash through.

Fittaman brought down by Man. Loose ball gathered by Denton. He's got a sight of the line. He's through unmolested.

That's the 2nd try for the Hurricanes. Right under the posts.

Ames converts.

Crabs 0 - 14 Hurricanes

 

40.00

The half comes to an end as a firm tackle from Bruce Force causes League Lover to knock the ball on. The ref's seen enough of a rather turgid first half, and the players trot off to the sheds.

 

Half Time View

About 50/50 on possession, but Hurricanes have had 60% of the territory. Neither team has really been able to spend much time in their opponents' 22; which shows some of the qualify defence on offer. Can the Crabs keep this tackle count up though?

 

43.15

Attacking kick from Somerset. Well, that's caught by Lover with one foot in play and one foot out. That's a kick out on the full and we'll head back to where Somerset kicked that from for a Hurricanes line out. Good anticipation from Lover.

Cattwat with the throw, but the Crabs have read that well. Force is lifted well, leans across and steals that from Denton.

Force to Phifteenplus. Phifteenplus to Ryabovol. He spots Heads running up quickly and makes a well weighted pass to the centre. Heads is at full tilt as he takes the pass. The Hurricanes are completely unprepared for this and Heads is far too quick for Clough to tackle. He's through and spots down under the posts.

Somerset with the conversion... Good kick. Crabs back within a try now.

Crabs 7 - 14 Hurricanes

 

47.30

Furball tackled by Cattwat. Furball penalised for not releasing the ball. He looks up to the referee as he emerges from the ruck with a look of confusion.

Pilgrim finds touch about 10m from the Crabs line.

Cattwat with the throw. It's deep again to Fittaman who gathers quickly and tries a run. He's getting nowhere and passes to Ames.

Sigh. The Crabs have completely failed to read Ames' run. He's through as quick as a flash and he scores to the left of the posts. Just as they get back into the game, they gift the Hurricanes a return try.

Ames converts with ease.

Crabs 7 - 21 Hurricanes

 

50.00

Geraint Martyn on for Crossfire Hurricane

 

50.30

The Crabs are struggling to clear their lines here. du Toit with the ball. He's not gonna be able to kick this clear. He's nailed by James Torres and that's turned over.

Poor support from du Toit's team mates there.

The Hurricanes look to spread the ball, and Son receives the ball. Brumby has read that well and tackles him before he makes much distance.

Burger and Howe look for the turnover, but Glensor and Lover secure the ball for the Hurricanes.

Pilgrim looks to spread it again. Fung with a run at the line. Only 5m away now, but he's under pressure and passes back infield to Pilgrim.

Pilgrim lures in Furball and offloads to Ames. Pilgrim's created the space there for Ames to exploit and that's another try for the Fly Half.

Another easy conversion too. Hurricanes starting to run away with this now.

Crabs 7 - 28 Hurricanes

 

58.30

Another try scoring opportunity for Jason Denton, but great work from Geraint Martyn sees Denton held up over the line. The Crabs turn over the resulting scrum and clear their lines. Great save from Martyn.