The ACT Brumbies have blown a golden chance to maintain contact with the Super Rugby Pacific ladder leaders after an upset loss to the Hurricanes in Canberra.
The third-placed Brumbies hadn’t lost at home to the Hurricanes, who sit eighth on the table, since 2017 and had won five of their past six clashes.
But they couldn’t catch the men from Wellington, going down in a 35-29 thriller on Saturday.
Burly Hurricanes winger Kini Naholo steamrolled his rivals to score two tries in a stand-out performance in the capital.
Brumbies playmaker Noah Lolesio said the team were gutted to give up their home-ground advantage and a chance to catch the top two, who host finals.
“We’re not thinking too far ahead,” Lolesio told Stan Sport.
“It obviously hurts ladder-wise, but obviously credit to the Canes, they starved us of possession in the first half especially.
“We did really well in the second half to claw it back, but obviously we weren’t good enough at the end.”
Lolesio was one of his side’s best performers and said he felt more freedom since announcing he was shifting his career to Japan.
“I definitely think it’s a weight off my shoulders now it’s in the public, and now I can really enjoy playing for these colours with this special group of boys,” the Wallabies playmaker said.
Australia’s top-ranked side started well, with skipper Allan Alaalatoa burrowing his way over the line in the eighth minute.
But in keeping with the theme of the night, each time they scored, the visitors answered with a try of their own.
Centre Billy Proctor was first across the tryline, running on to a massive cut-out pass from Callum Harkin, followed up by Ngantungane Punivai to give the Hurricanes a 10-5 lead.
