Hurricanes outlast Waratahs in windy Wellington

The Hurricanes have powered their way through a seesaw opening against the Waratahs to post a comfortable win in niggly Wellington conditions.

Playing through patchy weather which had already caused headaches for the Black Caps earlier today, the Hurricanes came out on top 34-17 against the Waratahs for their third win of the season.

After a scoreless first 10 minutes, Jordie Barrett gave the home side an early lead with a penalty in front but it was immediately countered from the restart with Julian Savea dropping the swirling kick cold inside his 22 to gift five points free to Nemani Nadolo.

Windy Wellington continued to toy with the players as the Hurricanes then were given a chance to respond off a Waratahs error from the restart and halfback Cam Roigard obliged with some fine footwork near the line off the back of his pack's scrum.

A third poor restart put the visitors right back on the attack though and after the Waratahs pulled off a rare nine-man lineout near the Hurricanes' line, it was some impressive finishing from Max Jorgensen that eventually got them back in front despite the TMO's best efforts to prove otherwise.

That put the Waratahs in front again but Hurricanes debutant Kini Naholo got into the mix with a try of his own, finishing off an impressive team try set up by Brett Cameron and Ardie Savea.

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That would give the Hurricanes a 17-12 lead at the break - one they would be partly proud of given how starved they were of possession for periods in the first half and the intensity in which the Waratahs entered the match with.

Still, there was plenty of work to do and the home side knew it.

"We're creating opportunities but we've just not been able to nail it down," assistant coach Chris Gibbes said at halftime.

"It's an arm wrestle for sure, but we just need to get those areas right."

Spoiler alert: they did.

Despite the testing the conditions, the Hurricanes started to open the match up more in the second half and the points came with it.

Roigard sparked the big 40 minutes with his second trip over the white line, chasing down a kick ahead from flanker Devan Flanders of all people to secure a ball the Waratahs left behind on halfway.

That seemed to give the Hurricanes confidence to run the ball and within minutes Naholo brushed off three defenders for his second try too, finishing off a counterattack from the hosts after another Waratahs error - this time a lost ball at their own lineout.

Despite their best efforts to respond, the Waratahs proved to be their own worst enemy with trips to the Hurricanes' 22 ending without any points.

Instead, an impactful Dane Coles was off the bench and cementing a win for his beloved club in his final season with a try off the back of a simple lineout maul.

Langi Gleeson stole a consolation try for the Waratahs at the end of the match with an intercept 60m out but the damage had already been done.

Hurricanes 34 [Cam Roigard 2, Kini Naholo 2, Dane Coles 1 tries; Jordie Barrett 3 con, 1 pen]

Waratahs 17 [Nemani Nadolo, Max Jorgensen, Langi Gleeson tries; Ben Donaldson 1 con]

HT: 17-12