The Sunwolves fell to their ninth straight loss of the Super Rugby season Friday as they went down 43-15 to the Hurricanes at Wellington's Westpac Stadium.
Tries immediately before and after halftime saw the Hurricanes take control of the game and a further three in the final seven minutes ruined what had been an impressive showing from Jamie Joseph's side, who lost the corresponding fixture 83-17 last year.
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The Sunwolves, who lost yet another player to concussion with lock James Moore forced to leave the field early in the first half, had 61 percent of possession and 63 percent of territory, forcing their opponents to make 137 tackles to the Sunwolves' 81.
But while the Sunwolves' defense leaked at crucial times -- they missed 22 tackles to the Hurricanes' 21 -- the hosts' line generally held firm, particularly when forced to dig in close to their try line.
"It was a tough battle," Sunwolves captain Lappies Labuschagne said. "We started pretty well and in the second half suffocated them of possession but we just couldn't get it over the line."
Hurricanes captain Brad Shields agreed his side had been pushed hard.
"(It was) a tough battle," said the New Zealand-born flanker, who is set to play for Eddie Jones' England in June.
"The Sunwolves turned up to play and you saw in the second half we had to defend a lot."
Labuschagne scored the opener in the tenth minute as the forwards, with Kazuki Himeno prominent, kept it close and created space for their captain.
But the hosts hit back five minutes later with Julian Savea going over after the Hurricanes forwards sucked in the Sunwolves defense to create space out wide.
A penalty from Hayden Parker saw the visitors regain the lead in the 18th minute, but it did not last long as the Sunwolves conceded two soft tries to Finlay Christie and Reed Prinsep in the 28th and 39th minutes, respectively, as the teams turned around with the Hurricanes leading 21-10.
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Forty-three seconds after the break, Jordie Barrett slipped a tackle and ran 50 meters for the 2016 Super Rugby champions, whose development side beat Japan A 36-27 a day earlier.
The Sunwolves dominated territory and possession for much of the remainder of the game. But they were unable to turn the pressure into points until Kenki Fukuoka raced over in the 69th minute.
Vince Aso, who earlier had two tries disallowed following intervention from the TMO, eventually had one stand when he crossed the chalk in the 74th minute.
He added a second after one from Shields, as the Hurricanes finished the stronger of the two sides and made sure they finished with a bonus point for scoring three or more tries than the Sunwolves.
