HURRICANES 56 - 21 BRUMBIES
FULLTIME: The Hurricanes go crazy in the second half outscoring the Brumbies 42-0 and claim a 56-21 win at McLean Park in Napier.
79mins: Just over a minute to go in Napier.
76mins: TRY HURRICANES: The try is given and the onslaught continues in Napier.
76mins: Possible to try to the Hurricanes as Ngani Laumape scores off a kick. They are checking for onside.
73mins: Both sides have been perfect with the boot so far tonight.
72mins: TRY HURRICANES: Callum Gibbins scores his second of the match off a strong lineout drive.
71mins: The Hurricanes win a penalty while on the attack. They are looking for try number seven.
69mins: The Hurricanes have had 74% possession in the second half.
68mins: The Canes kick the ball into space and the crowd roars. Brumbies have the ball but inside their 22. They clear the ball which is nearly charged and now Jordie Barrett goes on the attack.
65mins: TRY HURRICANES: Try scoring machine Mark Abbott scores his third in two games. Nice simple catch and pass close to the line leads to the try.
64mins: The Hurricanes are close to the try line again. Ricky Riccitelli desperately wants a try in this match.
60mins: TRY HURRICANES: Callum Gibbins scores the try off a charge down! A poor chip kick by Wharenui Hawera means Gibbins soars into the air and blocks the kick and scores under to the left of the posts.
59mins: The Hurricanes are close to the line again... Can they make it try number five? But luckily the Brumbies win a penalty and the away side survive.
57mins: The Hurricanes win another penalty after some cheeky play by Tj Perenara.
56mins: Play stop as Blade Thomson is assessed by the doctors. After a minute he is being taken off the field and Callum Gibbins is on.
54mins: The Brumbies are back to 15 men, and what a costly yellow card that was...
52mins: TRY HURRICANES: Vince Aso gets his hat trick. Some magic off the scrum as Aso scores and does three dabs to celebrate.
50mins: The Hurricanes have found that spark again and have another chance to score with an attacking lineout.
48mins: TJ Perenara on the field, replacing triple T, also known as Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi.
46mins: TRY HURRICANES: Some Beauden Barrett magic leads to Vince Aso scoring his second. Kicks cross field and Aso gets the ball and sprints over the line.
46mins: Beauden Barrett makes a break and passes it to Ngani Laumape but his pass can't find Brad Shields and the Brumbies clear again.
45mins: The Hurricanes are still metres from the Brumbies line. But they lose the ball and the away side clears the ball downfield. They are defending well so far despite being down a man.
42mins: YELLOW CARD BRUMBIES: The Hurricanes make a break from their half deep into Brumbies territory. The referee stops play and Wharenui Hawera kick the ball away, forcing the referee to pull out a card.
41mins: Interesting views looking down onto the field and Tj Perenara is talking t all the reserves. He must be telling them that their impact is key.
40mins: The second half is underway in Napier.
HALFTIME: Well that half was defiantly a half of two halves. Th Hurricanes dominated the opening exchanges but three tries in seven minutes means the Brumbies take a 21-14 lead into the sheds at halftime.
38mins: But the home side drops the ball and the Brumbies win a penalty.
37mins: The Hurricanes are close to the tryline. Can they score here?
35mins: Hurricanes a penalty within kicking range. But traling by a converted try, they go for touch.
33mins: The Brumbies are full of confidence right now. The win a scrum penalty and have the chance to clear the ball. But it fails to make touch.
31mins: The Hurricanes go close to scoring, but the ball doesn't go to hands and the Brumbies have posession.
29mins: TRY BRUMBIES: What a shock! The Brumbies take the lead with the try of the season. Once again from the kickoff, the Brumbies throw the ball through a number of hands and the ball bounces around and Jow Powell scores. The fans in Napier are in shock... I'm in shock!
27mins: TRY BRUMBIES: We have a ballgame on our hands after Sam Carter pushes his way over the line after a number of phases. The momentum has swung very quickly.
24mins: From the restart, Henry Speight makes a break and goes close to scoring but as he chiped the ball, Beauden Barrett saves the day. But as the Brumbies have a lineout. It's not all over yet.....
22mins: TRY BRUMBIES: Poor defence from the Hurricanes means centre Tevita Kuridrani crashes over the for Brumbies first try of the match.
20mins: Brumbies have a lineout and the away side is pushing towards the try line. Can they make the most of this opportunity?
No they can't as they drop the ball.
18mins: The Brumbies get the ball from the scrum and Tevita Kuridrani makes a massive break down the field. he chips the ball over the top of Jordie Barrett and the ball does not sit up for Joe Powell and it goes dead.
16mins: The Hurricanes have a scrum inside the Brumbie 22. Is try number three coming?
15mins: The Brumbies are moving backwards right now. They have no go- forward at all. I know its early days, but people on social media are asking, is this really Australias best team?
12mins: TRY HURRICANES: Cory Jane scores the try. Beauden Barrett puts in a perfect;y placed cross field kick and Jane leaps into the air like an AFL player or a Ballerina whatever you prefer and prefer and scores the try.
11mins: The Hurricanes are close to scoring their second of the match. Only five metres from the tryline.
10mins: The Hurricanes make a nice break down the right wing, but the Brumbies regather.... However, the Hurricanes push their way over the ball and they win a penalty.
8mins: Kiwi Nic Mayhew looks like he will come on shortly as Scott Sio has a knee injury.
7mins: TRY HURRICANES: Vince Aso scores the first try of the match. The Brumbies clear the ball and a perfectly ran counter attack opens up the floodgates and the midfielder scores under the posts. Jordie Barrett lands the conversion.
6mins: The home side is building up a number of phases now as they enter the Brumbies 22.
4mins: The Hurricanes win a penalty at the scrum after a monster push. Barrett kicks towards touch.
3mins: Hurricanes drop the ball on halfway and the Brumbies will feed their first scrum of the match.
2mins: Fifita appears to be staying on the field. The first scrum of the match goes to the Hurricanes.
2mins: Vaea Fifita looks like he is in trouble and is grabbing his shoulder. Time has stopped.
1mins: New captain Brad Shields puts a massive hit on Scott Fardy to start the match. The away side are moving backwards before a nice break down the right wing.
KICKOFF: We are underway in Napier. The Hurricanes get the match started.
7:35 pm: Another great edition of the Last Post as Napier is completely silent. kickoff will be moments away.
7:31 pm: Both sides now out on the field and both will stand for The Last Post.
7:30 pm: Key match for both sides tonight. Some Southland fans might be wearing their Brumbies jersey tonight as Stags first-five Wharenui Hawera is starting!
Hello and welcome to live updates of the Hurricanes hosting the Brumbies at McLean Park in Napier
We bring you live streaming written commentary, video highlights (be sure to refresh your browser) and all the action. VIDEO will be available as soon as the final whistle goes.
Commentary will start from around 7:30pm (NZT). In the meantime check out the video above as Chirs Boyd talks about the many changes to the Hurricanes side to face the Brumbies.
Lineups
Hurricanes
1. Ben May, 2. Ricky Riccitelli, 3. Jeffery To'omaga-Allen, 4. Mark Abbott, 5. Vaea Fifita, 6. Brad Shields (c),7. Ardie Savea, 8. Blade Thomson, 9. Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11 Julian Savea, 12. Ngani Laumape, 13. Vince Aso,14. Cory Jane, 15. Jordie Barrett
Reserves - 16. Leni Apisai, 17. Chris Eves, 18. Mike Kainga, 19. James Blackwell, 20. Callum Gibbins, 21. TJ Perenara, 22. Otere Black, 23. Ben Lam
Brumbies
1. Scott Sio, 2. Josh Mann-Rea, 3. Allan Alaalatoa, 4. Rory Arnold, 5. Sam Carter (c), 6. Scott Fardy, 7. Chris Alcock, 8. Jarrad Butler, 9. Joe Powell, 10. Wharenui Hawera, 11. James Dargaville, 12. Andrew Smith, 13. Tevita Kuridrani, 14. Henry Speight, 15. Aidan Toua
Reserves - 16. Robbie Abel, 17. Nic Mayhew, 18. Ben Alexander, 19. Blake Enever, 20. Lolo Fakaosilea, 21. De Wet Roos, 22. Jordan Jackson-Hope, 23. Nigel Ah Wong
Match facts and stats
Referee: Brendon Pickerill
Assistants: Glen Jackson and Angus Mabey
TMO: Shane McDermott
The Brumbies have won five of the last six meetings between the sides, including a 52-10 win against the ‘Canes in Round 1 last season, the Wellington side’s second heaviest Super Rugby defeat.
However the Hurricanes have won four of their last six home games against the Brumbies which included the Canberra side’s heaviest defeat in April 2009 (56-7).
The Brumbies have lost their last seven away to sides from New Zealand; they’ve never lost eight on the bounce in New Zealand before.
The Hurricanes have won their last nine at home with eight of those wins coming by margins of 10 points or more.
The Hurricanes have also won their last five in Wellington against Australian sides, conceding just 12.6 points per game on average during that run.
Past meetings
Head to head: Played 22, Hurricanes 9, Brumbies 13, draws 0
In New Zealand: Played 10, Hurricanes 5, Brumbies 5, draws 0
Last time played: Brumbies 52 def Hurricanes 10, February 26, 2016
Last time in New Zealand: Hurricanes 29 def Brumbies 9, June 26, 2015
Head-to-head: Highlanders - $1.11 Brumbies - $6.10
Pre-match banter - Lions need everything, plus luck, to win, says coach Warren Gatland
When coach Warren Gatland said that the British and Irish Lions face the toughest task in rugby when they play New Zealand this year, he was not exaggerating.
The Lions, in their various guises, have travelled on 11 occasions to play New Zealand since 1904 but only once, in 1971, have they managed to win a series.
In that period they have tasted victory in a grand total of six of the 38 tests - with three draws.
On their last visit in 2005, with a squad brim-full of English World Cup winners and coached by Clive Woodward, they were hammered 3-0.
This time the Lions will face an even more formidable New Zealand team, back-to-back world champions who have been the game's totally dominant force for the past eight years.
Two of the three tests will take place at Auckland's Eden Park, where the hosts have not lost a match since the sport turned professional in 1995 - 36 successive victories, with the vast majority against the best of the rest in the form of South Africa and Australia.
As if that was not hard enough, the Lions have been presented with an almost laughably difficult build-up.
They kick off with the only easy-looking fixture of the 10-match tour, against Provincial Barbarians on June 3.
But even that comes just one week after the English Premiership and Pro-12 finals, which could involve the best part of half of Gatland's squad.
With barely a chance to get to know their room mates, the squad will then take on the Blues, followed by the Crusaders, the Highlanders and the Chiefs - all teams packed with quality who are currently tearing up the southern hemisphere's Super Rugby competition.
NEW COMBINATIONS
Long gone are the days of a few easy warm-ups for the coaches to have a leisurely look at new combinations.
By the time of the first test on June 24 the tourists will feel as if they have played half a dozen games of virtual international intensity.
Coming off the back of a never-ending domestic season, they will have suffered further injuries and many of the coaching teams' best-laid plans will have been torn up.
With all that against them, they then face arguably the greatest team in the history of the sport at a fortress where the Lions have won once in more than a century of trying.
"This is the toughest tour," said Gatland, who as a New Zealand native knows the terrain as well as anyone.
"In previous tours the midweek games tended to be a little easier, but when you look at the quality of the opposition we're facing in midweek, it's going to be hugely challenging."
Sam Warburton, who will captain the Lions for the second time, was also fully aware of the scale of the task ahead.
"If someone says 'what do we have to do well to beat the All Blacks?', it's everything," he said.
"I don't think there's an aspect of the game, whether it's scrum, line-out, kicking game, contact area, tactically - you have to be on the money pretty much every game.
"Every player from 1-23 has to contribute massively in every test match to be able to get the win."
But Gatland, having led the Lions to a 2-1 series victory over Australia four years ago, believes the squad will travel with real belief.
"I don't think we should get on the plane unless we think we've got a chance of beating the All Blacks," he said.
