Hurricanes flyer Kini Naholo showed his class when he scored an excellent try in his team’s 29-12 victory over Moana Pasifika in their Super Rugby Pacific encounter in Wellington on Saturday.
Naholo was in fine form as he scored two tries and he showed off his fine finishing skills with his second five-pointer in the 28th minute.
This, after the Hurricanes launched an attack from a scrum on Moana‘s 22-metre line. Ardie Savea and Jamie Booth did well to draw in some defenders off the back of the set-piece before Booth offloaded to Aidan Morgan.
He then got a pass out to Naholo, who glided through a gaping hole in the visitors’ defence before turning on the afterburners on his way over the try-line.
Kini Naholo goes all the way with a brilliant run 👏
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Earlier, the Hurricanes made a superb start when Billy Proctor crossed for the opening try in the first minute before Moana struck back shortly afterwards when Henry Taefu crossed for their first five-pointer.
Both those tries were converted, which meant the sides were level at 7-7, but the next 15 minutes were dominated by the home side as Jordie Barrett, Morgan and Naholo dotted down before the visitors replied with a try from Anzelo Tuitavuki in the 25th minute.
Naholo then crossed for his second try before Moana replied with a Danny Toala five-pointer in the half’s closing stages, which meant the teams changed sides at the interval, with the Hurricanes holding a 29-19 lead.
The visitors narrowed the gap to seven points early in the second half when Lincoln McClutchie slotted a penalty in the 44th minute but that was the last time they would score points as the Hurricanes dominated the rest of the match.
Tries from Ardie Savea and Jacob Devery followed in quick succession, and Barrett succeeded with both conversions, which gave the home side a 43-22 lead by the 52nd minute.
It was one-way traffic after that as the Hurricanes brought up a half-century of points when Salesi Rayasi crossed for a try in the 62nd minute. Despite that the home side did not take their foot off the pedal as more tries from Caleb Delany and Savea followed before the Hurricanes skipper added the final nail in Moana’s coffin when he scored his third try in stoppage time.
Video credit: Super Rugby Pacific
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