The Hurricanes' unbeaten run through Super Rugby Pacific has ended, with a 27-19 defeat to to Aussies ACT Brumbies at Canberra.
After opening their campaign with eight consectuvie wins, the team from the NZ capital never led against their counterparts from the Australian capital, conceding 17 unanswered points in the first half.
Prop Xavier Numia scored a rare try double, but after their horror loss to the Blues at Eden Park last week, the Brumbies bounced back to show why they are perennial contenders in the trans-Tasman competition.
The home side struck first, when an attacking lineout was sacked close to the tryline, but first-five Noah Lolesio dived over in the corner.
Hurricanes first-five Brett Cameron exacerbated their predicament by putting the restart out on the full, but centre Peter Umaga-Jensen stripped the ball in a tackle and winger Salesi Rayasi found touch inside the Brumbies 22.
After several minutes of sustained pressure, Numia powered over from a lineout to put the Kiwis on the board.
Second-five Tamati Tua split a couple of Hurricanes forwards - lock Isaia Walker-Leawere and hooker James O'Reilly - in midfield and kept running to the tryline to score, before quick hands put another Kiwi, winger Ollie Sapsford, away.
From an attacking scrum, Hurricanes No.8 Brayden Iose offloaded for Cameron to dart across in the corner, but the pass was ruled forward.
They suffered a potentially crippling blow, when O'Reilly - the last recognised hooker in the Hurricanes squad - left for a concussion check, exposing Super Rugby rookie Raymond Tuputupu against the top-ranked Aussies.
After several phases, Numia secured his try double to keep his side in the hunt, but after the halftime siren, they barely kept their opponents out, after fullback Tom Wright broke into the 22.
Ahead 24-12 at the break, the Aussies added to their advantage with a penalty early in the second half, but Hurricanes fullback Ruben Love put his team on the frontfoot and Rayasi injected his pace, before second-five Jordie Barrett finished off the movement with a try.
Love put them back onto attack, when he pounced on a loose ball and kicked ahead, but the ball beat him into touch in goal.
At the other end, Wright kicked to the Hurricanes tryline for Sapsford to chase and Love barely covered the danger. Wright threatened again, when he fielded a long clearance from Rayasi in touch, threw it to himself and raced over halfway, but the ball was lost forward in a tackle.
Replacement lock Tom Hooper found himself in space and hurtled towards the tryline, but was held up, before he could force the ball.
As time ticked down, the Hurricanes were still eight points adrift and desperately needed to score next, but struggled for possession at the right end of the field. Veteran All Blacks TJ Perenara and Barrett were subbed off, as they looked for fresh legs to tip the balance.
Lolesio gave them a lifeline, when he hit the upright with a penalty attempt that would have stretched the lead and the Hurricanes had one last chance for points, when they won a lineout in Brumbies territory, but turned the ball over at a ruck.
After leading the competition throughout the season, the Hurricanes may now lose their spot atop the table, if the Blues manage a bonus-point win over Queensland Reds later Saturday.
The Wellingtonians will host NSW Waratahs in the capital on Friday.
ACT Brumbies 27 (Lolesio, Tua, Sapsford tries; Lolesio 3 conversions & 2 penalties) Hurricanes 19 (Numia 2, Barrett tries; Cameron 2 conversions)
