Cats blown away by Hurricanes

A PAIR of first-half tries from the irrepressible Lome Fa’atau helped the Hurricanes maintain their sound start to the Super 14 season with a 29-16 victory over the Cats.

Fa’atau and All Blacks Chris Masoe and Isaia Toeava all scored to give the Wellington outfit a bonus point.

The Hurricanes trailed going into the last five minutes of the first half, but two tries in as many minutes saw them gain the interval advantage.

Fa’atau opened the scoring after only four minutes. The ‘Canes spread the play from a line-out through the backs to Isaia Toeava, whose flick played in the Samoan for his fourth try in three games. Ex-Leinster fly-half David Holwell converted.

However, Tana Umaga was soon penalised for a high tackle and Earl Rose took advantage from the resultant penalty to add the Cats’ first points.

But on 16 minutes, and against the run of play, the Cats took the lead, the try coming from a line-out.

The ball found half-back Ricky Januarie, who fed Grant Esterhuizen for the Johannesburg franchise’s first try of 2006, converted by Rose.

Holwell increased the hosts’ lead to 22-12 six minutes after the break with a penalty.

The Cats looked to grind their way back into the match and their second-half territorial dominance was rewarded when a Ma’a Nonu indiscretion allowed Rose another three-pointer.

He repeated the trick in the final minute to cut the deficit, but the Hurricanes, searching for an extra point, earned it with the last play of the game, Toeava crossing the line and Jimmy Gopperth converting.