Canes buried in pack
%26bull; Marks leaves his mark
They flew last night to Sydney for the first leg of their journey to South Africa where they play the Bulls in Pretoria this weekend.
It always loomed as an important game but has now become a `must-win after the loss to the Crusaders two weeks ago and Saturday nights controversial 13-13 draw with the Sharks in Wellington.
The Hurricanes have tumbled to seventh on a table still led by the Crusaders, who had the bye over the weekend.
The big movers are the Chiefs, who have rocketed into fourth with three consecutive bonus-point victories.
They have the bye this weekend then host the Crusaders in a match that should see the return of Jono Gibbes. The week off should also be enough time for first five-eighth Stephen Donald to get over a head knock and Mils Muliaina a tweaked hamstring.
The Blues are still third despite the 37-16 shellacking they received from the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday, a performance coach David Nucifora said was their worst in two years.
It was just a very ill-disciplined performance in that first half, Nucifora said.
We gave away 11 penalties and once that happened were never going to get ourselves into the game - it just killed us.
The win would have been bittersweet for Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie who was told last week the `Tahs were playing so poorly that it was his last season as coach.
The Sharks are still second, but have four more tough games to come on their New Zealand-Australia tour with the Highlanders next on the list.
While the Crusaders are comfortably on track to finish top of the table, none of the other teams can rest on their laurels.
There are only six points between the Sharks and Hurricanes, and while the Stormers and Brumbies are on the cusp of falling out of the race, they havent yet.
Hurricanes flanker Jerry Collins said they were reasonably happy with the draw at Westpac Stadium.
We had enough chances to win the game and to have lost the game. It was probably a fair indication of the game. One team would have felt hard done by if they had lost.
Were not happy, but we could be in a worse position. We could have lost.
The Hurricanes play three games in South Africa and none will be easy despite where the opponent might be on the table.
The Bulls, who they face in Pretoria this Sunday, have a straightforward trip home from Perth where they lost 15-14 to the Force on Friday night.
No game is easy in Pretoria but the Bulls will be particularly keen to put right a horrible defence to their title with four consecutive matches at Loftus Versfeld.
The Hurricanes then play the Stormers, who are playing better than their ninth spot on the table suggests, and then head to Kimberley to play a Cheetahs side that is also better than its results to date.
Collins conceded the Hurricanes playoff hopes would be decided in South Africa.
On the way home well know if were in the hunt or not. By the time we come home it might be all over.
If we can at least pick up two of the next three games, then with two at home, if were good enough we should pick up those two.
But we have to really nail these next two games and theyre pretty tough games.
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Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 5:16 pm under