Hurricanes too hot for Reds

Hurricanes kept their Super 14 semi-final hopes alive with a convincing 44-21 triumph over Queensland Reds at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

The home side fell 21-8 behind at one stage after Scott Higginbotham, Rod Davis and Will Chambers crossed for the visitors.

But winger Hosea Gear cut the deficit for the Hurricanes before Reds' flanker Andrew Shaw was sin-binned to mark the turning point of the match.

Hat-trick

Gear completed a hat-trick of tries while Tamati Ellison and David Smith rounded off the scoring and Piri Weepu kicked 14 points.

Hurricanes made the stronger start as a neat inside pass from Gear sent Cory Jane over for an unconverted try 11 minutes in.

Fly-half Weepu then kicked a penalty to put the hosts 8-0 ahead, but the Reds replied with three tries in quick succession.

Scrum-half Will Genia slipped through a wide gap at the edge of a ruck to set Higginbotham up for a simple run-in, with Quade Cooper converting.

And the Reds put themselves in front when Anthony Faingaa produced a tidy inside pass to free Davies, who dotted down for another converted try.

The hosts were in trouble again just two minutes later as a Faingaa break allowed Cooper to feed Chambers with a superb kick-ahead into the goal area, and the winger touched down for a 21-8 advantage.

The Hurricanes managed to grab some consolation just before the break as Gear crossed over to narrow the gap to eight points.

But it was Shaw's sin-binning that proved crucial for the home side as Reds conceded 14 points in his 10-minute absence.

Advantage

Gear landed the first of those two scores by touching down in the corner when he looked set to go into touch, while Weepu added the extras.

And Wellington reclaimed their advantage when flanker Michael Paterson seized an interception, with an impressive flick pass from Jane allowing Jason Kawau to send Ellison over in the corner, with Weepu converting once again.

Shaw's return to the field could not rescue the visitors as Gear completed his hat-trick and Smith wrapped up the scoring to seal Hurricanes' comfortable victory.