The Hurricanes beat the Waratahs 16-14 in their Rebel Sport Super 14 semi-final in Wellington on Friday night.

The Hurricanes delighted the bumper Westpac Stadium crowd with another hugely gutsy win, characterised by sublime attacking rugby and periods of tremendous defence.

A long-range penalty from halfway to replacement first five-eighth Jimmy Gopperth won the game for the Hurricanes, after Waratahs right wing Peter Hewat had landed two penalties in quick succession to overtake the Hurricanes midway the second half.

Hewat’s penalties in the 64th and 68th minutes, gave the Waratahs a 14-13 lead, setting up a tense finish, but Gopperth's 51-metre effort proved the match winner.

The Hurricanes had led 13-8 at halftime.

Two well-struck penalties to halfback Piri Weepu and first five-eighth David Holwell gave the Hurricanes a 6-0 lead in the 8th minute. Weepu's effort was a sweetly timed effort taken from three metres on his side of halfway. While Holwell made no mistake from near the right hand touchline two minutes later.

The Waratahs were able to hit back to score their first try to right wing Peter Hewat, after a burst from left wing Lote Tuqiri.

Hewat then kicked a penalty to give the Waratahs an 8-6 edge after 20 minutes of play, before the Hurricanes struck with the game’s decisive score soon after to right wing Lome Fa’atau.

Fa’atau’s tenth try of the season was set up by the forwards, who brilliantly pushed the Waratahs off a defensive scrum on their 22 line and forced a set-piece turnover. 

From the resulting feed to their own scrum, the Hurricanes unleashed the backs, who engineered a try for the flying Fa’atau.  Using the width of the field, Holwell launched a skip pass across the posts to second five-eighth Tana Umaga, who found Fa'atau on his inside shoulder, whose searing pace did the rest. Holwell converted and the Hurricanes held a decisive 13-8 lead.

The Hurricanes were able to create further opportunities before half time, with Holwell the catalyst for two near misses before the break. He turned the Waratahs around with a raking kick down the touchline with his left boot, probing for a mistake. Two minutes later, left wing Shannon Paku pounced on a Holwell left foot grubber, only to be denied by the chalk of the in goal line.

The Hurricanes pressed hard on attack early in the second half, but couldn't add to their advantage. Most notably, another long-range Weepu penalty attempt hit the upright, a 50-metre burst up field from Chris Masoe and a searching kick into the corner by the Prince of Westpac Stadium, replacement midfielder Tamati Ellison, was just snuffed out by the visitors.

The Hurricanes will now face either the Crusaders at Jade Stadium or the Bulls at home in the final next weekend.