WELLINGTON: TJ Perenara’s second try with less than 20 minutes remaining sparked an increase in intensity from the Wellington Hurricanes as they beat the Waikato Chiefs 32-31 in their Super Rugby quarterfinal on Friday.
Perenara’s five-pointer gave the Hurricanes a 25-17 lead and some much-needed belief for the final quarter of an intense encounter after they had spent most of the first half chasing the game.
Julian Savea scored an intercept try in the first minute, while Ben Lam grabbed his 15th of the season in the second half to set up a semi-final against either the Canterbury Crusaders or Sharks next week.
Neil Weber, Anton Leinert-Brown, Damian McKenzie, and Lachlan Boshier scored tries for the visitors, who had beaten the Hurricanes 28-24 last week in Hamilton but left themselves too much to do despite a late rally in the rematch.