Loose forward makes a run for it

Hurricanes No 8 Brayden Iose only had one thought when he picked up the ball from the back of the scrum, 25m out from the try-line, with seven minutes to go in their final round clash with the Crusaders: ‘‘Just run!’’

Iose, a late addition to the starting lineup after Du’Plessis Kirifi suffered a bicep injury in training, produced the play of his career when he burst down the right wing, brushed off two tacklers and dived across to score the matchwinning try in the dramatic 27-26 comeback victory.

The 24-year-old out of Palmerston North put the Hurricanes eight points up before a try after the fulltime siren to Crusaders substitute Chay Fihaki cut the deficit to one point.

‘‘I was just happy Boothy [halfback Jamie Booth] finally let one of the No 8s run off the back of the scrum,’’ Iose said. ‘‘It was pretty special. Just the atmosphere of the crowd, it was a pretty cool moment and something I won’t forget.’’

Although there was nothing riding on the result, the win against the defending champions ensured the Hurricanes would head into the quarterfinals riding a wave of momentum.

Coming back from 19-8 down at halftime, the Hurricanes scored three tries to one in the second half to claim their biggest scalp of the season in front of a healthy crowd of more than 16,000.

‘‘The atmosphere and crowd was incredible. I haven’t seen that in Wellington in my time.’’

After back-to-back defeats, it was just what the team needed ahead of a difficult quarterfinal away to the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday.

‘‘It’s been a good few days,’’ Iose said. ‘‘But it’s very much the next task now. We’ve got a big game coming up in Canberra.’’

Iose’s try capped off another strong outing from one of the Hurricanes’ breakout stars.

Deceptively quick for a forward, Iose has caught the eye with his rampaging runs with the ball in hand. He scored a breakaway try off an intercept in the Hurricanes’ defeat to the Blues in the previous round.

Iose’s performances have provided a glimpse into the future, with captain Ardie Savea leaving for Japan at the end of the season, leaving a vacancy at No 8.

With Kirifi ruled out at the last minute, Savea switched to openide flanker to accommodate Iose last weekend.

Assistant coach Chris Gibbes said Iose had put his hand up for another start against the Brumbies.

‘‘I thought Brayden played a pretty big part in that team performance.

‘‘He needed to step up physically and we all know what Brayden can do with ball in hand but I thought his defence work was topnotch,’’ Gibbes said. ‘‘He’s played well, he’s done what he needs to do and now it’s on us as coaches to pick the right players.’’