WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Hurricanes have been late to the party in Super Rugby this season.
While other teams shone in the first weeks of a tight competition, the Wellington-based Hurricanes lacked their usual luster.
But with a 57-12 win over the New South Wales Waratahs in Round 7, the Hurricanes catapulted themselves into playoffs contention, finally grabbing a place in the spotlight.
The Hurricanes had a 1-3 record through their first four games, which contained only flashes of their usually inspired attacking play.
While their set piece generally has been reliable, ball security and control of possession has not. While the Hurricanes have been able to create opportunities, they haven’t always been able to finish.
In a season in which all advantages appear to be with the team in possession, the Hurricanes have been too careless of possession. Their defense has been solid but they have been imprecise and impatient on attack.
On Friday everything clicked. The Waratahs scored first before the Hurricanes seized control and ran in nine tries.
The effort started at the back with strong defense and the outstanding ability of Hurricanes captain and open side flanker DuPlessis Kirifi to win breakdown turnovers. Kirifi is pressing a strong case for All Blacks selection this year.
Lock Isaia Walker Leawere was a standout performer and winger Kini Naholo produced the finishing touch with three tries.
The Hurricanes got back their confidence and with it their creativity in attack which was seen at its best in the reverse pass from fullback Ruben Love which created a 57th minute try for winger Ngane Punivai.
The first green shoots of the Hurricanes’ revival were seen in their 20-18 win over the Highlanders in Round 5 and two rounds later it has come into full bloom.
“It was nice rugby wasn’t it?” coach Clark Laidlaw said. “If you watched that Highlanders game, we had to work hard for everything we got, so it’s always pleasing when you get a half chance and you take it.
“If you back it up with another one quickly then you can get a bit of daylight (on the opposition).”
The Waratahs lost Max Jorgenson to injury then Joey Walton to a yellow card which also cost a penalty try. That helped the Hurricanes to take control of the match, especially when they scored twice close to halftime.
“The game is won and lost around the physical collision and the Hurricanes dominated that area,” Waratahs coach Dan McKellar said. “We turned the ball over too much, both at the breakdown and at the set piece and they got on a roll.
“They’ve got some talent in that group and they showed that tonight, so some harsh lessons for us.”
On the subject of revivals, Moana Pasifika’s magnificent 45-29 over the much higher-ranked Crusaders was another example of a team which had hinted at better form than it had produced.
Again, confidence played a key role. The Moana Pasifika players felt that they were on the verge of a complete performance and produced that on Saturday, going out with the intention of starting well, then keeping up the tempo and pressure when the Crusaders tried to rally.
Moana Pasifika’s kicking game was outstanding, implemented by flyhalf Patrick Pellegrini. Sydney-born and of Tongan heritage, Pelligrini played for Coventry in England’s RFU Championship and for Tonga at the 2023 World Cup.
All Blacks backrower Ardie Savea, who moved from the Hurricanes to Moana Pasifika between seasons, has played a major role in the team’s improvement. Savea scored two tries and Pellegrini touched down once in Saturday’s victory.
As with the Hurricanes, a strong performance in their last match — a narrow loss to the Chiefs, who led the competition after Round 6 — laid the foundation for a win in this weekend.
“We talked about moments and winning each moment," Savea said. "I felt like the boys stacked a lot of those moments together tonight.
“We knew no one was expecting us to win so the message was for the boys just to jam and play with nothing to lose.”
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
FILE - Argentina's Lucio Cinti, right, tackles New Zealand's Ardie Savea, left, during their rugby union test match in Wellington, New Zealand on Aug. 10, 2024. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP, File)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ahn Sung-ki, one of South Korean cinema’s biggest stars whose prolific 60-year career and positive, gentle public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor,” died Monday. He was 74.
Ahn, who had suffered blood cancer for years, was pronounced dead at Seoul's Soonchunhyang University Hospital, his agency, the Artist Company, and hospital officials said.
“We feel deep sorrow at the sudden, sad news, pray for the eternal rest of the deceased and offer our heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members," the Artist Company said in a statement.
President Lee Jae Myung issued a condolence message saying Ahn provided many people with comfort, joy and time for reflection. “I already miss his warm smile and gentle voice,” Lee wrote on Facebook.
Born to a filmmaker in the southeastern city of Daegu in 1952, Ahn made his debut as a child actor in the movie “The Twilight Train” in 1957. He subsequently appeared in about 70 movies as a child actor before he left the film industry to live an ordinary life.
In 1970, Ahn entered Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies as a Vietnamese major. Ahn said he graduated with top honors but failed to land jobs at big companies, who likely saw his Vietnamese major largely useless after a communist victory in the Vietnam War in 1975.
Ahn returned to the film industry in 1977 believing he could still excel in acting. In 1980, he rose to fame for his lead role in Lee Jang-ho’s “Good, Windy Days,” a hit coming-of-age movie about the struggle of working-class men from rural areas during the country’s rapid rise. Ahn won the best new actor award in the prestigious Grand Bell Awards, the Korean version of the Academy Awards.
He later starred in a series of highly successful and critically acclaimed movies, sweeping best actor awards and becoming arguably the country’s most popular actor in much of the 1980-90s.
Some of his memorable roles included a Buddhist monk in 1981’s “Mandara,” a beggar in 1984’s “Whale Hunting,” a Vietnam War veteran-turned-novelist in 1992’s “White Badge,” a corrupt police officer in 1993’s “Two Cops,” a murderer in 1999’s “No Where To Hide,” a special forces trainer in 2003’s “Silmido” and a devoted celebrity manager in 2006’s “Radio Star.”
Ahn had collected dozens of trophies in major movie awards in South Korea, including winning the Grand Bell Awards for best actor five times, an achievement no other South Korean actors have matched yet.
Ahn built up an image as a humble, trustworthy and family-oriented celebrity who avoided major scandals and maintained a quiet, stable personal life. Past public surveys chose Ahn as South Korea’s most beloved actor and deserving of the nickname “The Nation’s Actor.”
Ahn said he earlier felt confined with his “The Nation's Actor” labeling but eventually thought that led him down the right path. In recent years, local media has given other stars similar honorable nicknames, but Ahn was apparently the first South Korean actor who was dubbed “The Nation's Actor.”
“I felt I should do something that could match that title. But I think that has eventually guided me on a good direction,” Ahn said in an interview with Yonhap news agency in 2023.
In media interviews, Ahn couldn’t choose what his favorite movie was, but said that his role as a dedicated, hardworking manger for a washed-up rock singer played by Park Jung-hoon resembled himself in real life the most.
Ahn was also known for his reluctance to do love scenes. He said said he was too shy to act romantic scenes and sometimes asked directors to skip steamy scenes if they were only meant to add spice to movies.
“I don’t do well on acting like looking at someone who I don’t love with loving eyes and kissing really romantically. I feel shy and can’t express such emotions well,” Ahn said in an interview with the Shindonga magazine in 2007. “Simply, I’m clumsy on that. So I couldn’t star in such movies a lot. But ultimately, that was a right choice for me.”
Ahn is survived by his wife and their two sons. A mourning station at a Seoul hospital was to run until Friday.
FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki smiles for a photo on the red carpet at the 56th Daejong Film Awards ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, June 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki attends an event as part of the 11th Pusan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
