Despite setting up the two late tries that earned the Hurricanes a dramatic 34-28 Super Rugby win over the Western Force, Aaron Cruden did not seem all that satisfied by his performance at FMG Stadium on Friday night.
Trailing 28-20 with 10 minutes to go, Cruden cut loose and started taking on the Force defence and it was two lovely pop passes round the back of Force tacklers that set up crucial tries for James Broadhurst and Cory Jane which earned the Hurricanes just their fourth win of the season and a victory for Victor Vito in his first start as captain.
"I think it was quite evident I was trying a little bit too hard for most of the game to put on a show for the home crowd," said the Manawatu first five-eighths.
"For the first three-quarters of the game I felt like I didn't get a chance to [take on the line]. It felt like I was doing a lot of catching and passing and finally a light sort of went off in my head that 'I've got to have a crack at the line'.
"I was able to do that in the last 20 minutes and find a few little gaps and get a couple of balls away which was good.
"I'm really, really happy for the boys to guts it out and get a result finally this year."
For a long period it looked like it might be another match that got away from the Hurricanes as flimsy tackling allowed the Force in for tries to Rory Sidey, Cameron Shepherd and Ben McCalman.
The Hurricanes trailed 18-10 at the break after Ma'a Nonu's opener was cancelled about by the efforts of Sidey and Shepherd.
The All Blacks second five-eighths completed his double nine minutes in to the second half before McCalman's effort and Shepherd's third penalty of the night looked have swung the game the Force's way.
But with Piri Weepu marshalling the forwards and Cruden creating uncertainty in the Force defence Broadhurst and Jane got the Manawatu crowd cheering before the home side had to dig deep on defence to keep the visitors out in the dying seconds.
"Even though we've been putting the effort in we probably haven't been getting the rewards so it was really nice to get it tonight," admitted Cruden.
"Full credit to the Western Force. We knew they were going to bring it for the full 80 and they did that and we had to guts it out."
The Force's effort was all the more creditable considering the makeshift look of their backline which was missing James O'Connor, Willie Ripia, Brett Sheehan and Gene Fairbanks.
It was halfback Mark Swanepoel's first start in Super Rugby, while usual No.9 James Stannard was pressed into the No.10 duties and generally handled them with aplomb.
Stannard and Cameron Shepherd's kicking game in the first half won the Force plenty of good field position which they were able to capitalise on – be it from penalty kicks or tries.
But in the second half the Hurricanes had the greater share of the ball and territory, which limited the Force’s opportunities.
"I certainly think we put ourselves in a position to [win] tonight and it's disappointing,"said Force captain Nathan Sharpe. "A lot of fantastic effort went in tonight, particularly from guys [like Swanepoel and Stannard].
"Also from a team point of