The Hurricanes have survived a massive scare in Sydney to beat the Waratahs 20-19 in their Super Rugby season opener.
Having trailed for most of the match, debutant flanker Du Plessis Kirifi scored a try with five minutes remaining, and Jordie Barrett landed a tough conversion to put the Hurricanes in front.
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Waratahs playmaker Bernard Foley, who had been successful with all five of his previous goal kicks, had a relatively easy 30m penalty to win the game but missed, and the Hurricanes came away with the win.
The Waratahs dominated most of the match in front of a sold-out Brookvale Oval, and were chasing their first win against the Hurricanes since 2015.
The hosts led 9-3 after 15 minutes thanks to three penalty goals from Foley. His first attempt saw him overtake Matt Burke (959) as the 'Tahs' all-time leading point-scorer.
The Hurricanes then blew a certain try in the 28th minute when Wes Goosen dropped the ball with the try-line in sight.
But the men from the capital made up for that error when flanker Ardie Savea barged his way over the line in the 36th minute to go in front for the first time.
The Waratahs regained the lead seconds after the restart though, with Foley slotting his fourth penalty to make it 12-10 at the break.
A try in the opening minutes of the second half extended the Waratahs' lead to 19-10 after New Zealand-born winger Curtis Rona found his way over the line.
Barrett's second penalty narrowed the gap to six points, before Savea and Ben Lam were both denied tries by the TMO.
Eventually they scored when Kirifi powered his way over from a lineout, which proved to be the match-winner.
The Hurricanes will face the Crusaders in their next match, while the Waratahs will travel to Tokyo to face the Sunwolves, who lost 45-10 to the Sharks on Sunday.
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