South African winger Jacobus van Wyk scored two tries to guide 14-man Hurricanes to a 25-18 win against the Chiefs on Sunday and register their first victory of Super Rugby Aotearoa in Hamilton.
Van Wyk crossed over for his first try after just five minutes following a long pass from full-back Jordie Barrett, who went on to successfully kick his conversion.
Damain McKenzie replied with a penalty 11 minutes later but the Hurricanes pulled further clear with two penalties from Barrett and a converted try by Du’Plessis Kirifi for a 20-3 halftime lead.
McKenzie reduced the deficit with another penalty early in the second half but the Hurricanes increased their lead with van Wyk’s second five-pointer in the 60th minute courtesy of excellent work by Barrett and Jamie Booth.
The Chiefs hit back three minutes later with a penalty try and received a further boost when Scott Scrafton was sent off for a second yellow card after trying to stop McKenzie from scoring a try.
Lachlan Boshier would get a try for the Chiefs late in the game but it was too late to haul themselves back in the game.
As a result, the Chiefs remain winless and bottom of the five-team Aotearoa table after four games while the Hurricanes are fourth having collected their first win in three games.
