'Rapt' was the word of the day for coach Jason Holland, as he reflected on his team's best performance of the season to date in besting the Brumbies in Wellington.
The Hurricanes emerged 32-17 victors in an arm wrestle of a contest at Westpac Stadium, making an undeniable statement regarding their playoffs pedigree and ensuring they celebrated veteran wing Julian Savea's 150th appearance for the franchise in ideal fashion.
Without a win over the Canberra-based side since 2018, the Hurricanes flipped that script with a determined display to claim their biggest scalp of the year against the second-placed Aussies.
After coming out on the wrong side of the ledger in some tight games this year - including last week against the unbeaten Chiefs - Holland beamed with pride at his side's ability to knuckle down and nail the basics, which he believes were key factors in getting over the line.
"I'm rapt with that… with us winning one of those games which was a dog fight," Holland said after the game.
"We always get that from the Brumbies and, over the last few years, we've come out on the wrong side of that. We knew what we were in for.
"Our ability - especially in the first 20 minutes of that second half - to do some really simple things over and over again was really satisfying.
"There's lots of things there we'd like to be a bit more accurate in but generally really rapt with the effort and the fact that we were smart enough and did it for long enough to get the result."
The Hurricanes overcame the early loss of lock James Blackwell and Caleb Delany, scoring two first-half tries to take a slender three-point lead into halftime.
Impressive first-five Aidan Morgan scythed through the defence late in the second half to give his side a 32-19 advantage, before the Brumbies struck in the 77th minute.
But the ensuing conversion sailed wide, meaning Hurricanes fans and their fingernails were spared any late punishment, maintaining their eight-point buffer until the penalty attempt with time expired that salvaged the Australians a bonus point.
Holland said one of their main talking points in the build up to the match was coming out on top in pivotal stages by increasing their effort levels.
That includes on an individual level, with Holland singling out flanker Devan Flanders, who helped plug the gap left by the early loss of lock James Blackwell and replacement Caleb Delany, which meant some makeshift work in the second row throughout the rest of the contest.
"That's what we're finding - the top six or seven teams in the competition - you have to be good enough to nail those little moments and be really accurate.
"That was a massive, massive result for us."
Asafo Aumua was another who earned special mention, after the hooker's blockbuster performance across the entire 80 minutes.
Also outstanding was pivot Morgan, who Holland believed is improving every week.
"The decision making and the way he's seeing things now is getting better and better," Holland said of his first-five.
"He's going really well and I'm really happy for him because he's working hard at his game.
"He's a tough little bugger. To see him score that try and bounce out of a couple of tackles was awesome and you can't question his commitment to the high ball, the tackle or the carry."
The result means the Hurricanes move provisionally up to third place in the Super Rugby standings and well in the mix to secure a home quarter-final.
The challenge for the Hurricanes now lies in continuing that form on the road next week, when they face the daunting task of taking on Fijian Drua on their home soil in Suva.
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