Fifth-choice halfback Logan Henry experienced a dream debut for the Hurricanes, scoring the decisive try with his just second touch in Super Rugby Pacific to secure a narrow 21-14 win over the Highlanders at Sky Stadium in Wellington on Saturday.
The Manawatū product was a late inclusion to the Hurricanes squad, promoted to the bench on Friday after starting halfback Jamie Booth was ruled out with a knee injury.
With Booth sidelined, it meant the Hurricanes were without all three of their contracted halfbacks as they were already missing TJ Perenara and Cam Roigard.
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Richard Judd was handed a start in the No.9 jersey.
Henry’s 69th minute try was a moment to remember for a player who does not even have a profile on the Hurricanes website but has been training with the squad as injury cover since pre-season.
The Hurricanes certainly needed it after lock Josh Dickson crashed over to bring the Highlanders within nine points before Marty Banks added the conversion to close the gap to seven with five minutes to go, setting up a grandstand finish.
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Henry dived over to score after combining with another substitute, Peter Umaga-Jensen. Umaga-Jensen got around the outside of Scott Gregory and threw an inside ball for the No.21 to run across untouched.
His only prior touch came when he fed the ball into a scrum moments earlier.
After the Hurricanes played out a Super Rugby classic against the Blues last weekend, this was hardly a spectacle.
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The Hurricanes led just 7-0 heading into halftime thanks to an early try from Pouri Rateke-Stones, who fended off Hugh Renton on the 22-metre line to run through and open the scoring in the 11th minute.
Billy Proctor extended their advantage when he crashed over near the posts after sustained pressure on the Highlanders’ line in the 50th minute before the Highlanders came roaring back into the game.
They butchered a certain try when Liam Coombes-Fabling failed to take a simple catch from a Marty Banks kick to the corner, but they struck moments later when a pass from Aaron Smith slipped through the arms of Liam Coltman and Manaaki Selby-Rickit was able to scoop it up and score in the 58th minute.
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The Hurricanes have now won back-to-back games after starting the season with a defeat to the Crusaders while it is back to the drawing board for the winless Highlanders.
The big moment
Highlanders winger Liam Coombes-Fabling endured a rude welcome to Super Rugby Pacific. The left winger botched an easy try in the 53rd minute when he failed to catch a kick into the corner from Marty Banks. The try-line was begging.
Match rating
5/10. The game came to life with both teams crossing for two tries each in the second 40 after a dour first half saw the Hurricanes lead just 7-0 thanks to an early try from prop Pouri Rakete-Stones.
The big picture
Hurricanes are building momentum with two wins on the bounce and have shot up to fourth on the Super Rugby Pacific table while the Highlanders remain winless in 2022.
MVP
Captain Ardie Savea was once again in the thick of it for the Hurricanes, making 11 tackles. He even showed off his fancy footwork when he made a break down the left in the lead-up to Logan Henry’s match-winning try. Took a knock to his left knee and had it heavily strapped at the end of the game but got through the full 80 minutes.
Scoring details
Hurricanes 21 (Pouri Rakete-Stones try 11 min, Billy Proctor try 50 min, Logan Henry 69 min, Jordie Barrett 3 con)
Highlanders 14 (Manaaki Selby-Rickit try 58 min, Josh Dickson try 75 min, Marty Banks 2 con) HT: 7-0
– This article originally appeared on stuff.co.nz and is reproduced with permission