In the end the Hurricanes moved to the top of the standings with a full house of 15 points. The Cats left the game with nothing and dropped own to 10th place.

That the Hurricanes got a bonus point from the match may have been fortuitous, but it is really testimony to their skill and speeding ability.

That the Cats did not get a bonus point tells the tale of their lack of skill and handling ability. If there had been a bonus point for bravery and determination, the teams would have shared a point each.

But if there had been a bonus point for catching and passing, the Hurricanes would have had one, the Cats none. And eventually it was woeful handling that cost them a bonus point.

What would not have earned the Cats a bonus point at all was the way they used the boot to shed possession. Even on attack they kicked - to no good purpose. It seemed that their first thoughts was to kick the ball. Their second thought was to stick their heads down and charge into muscular opponents.

But let's not forget their resoluteness as they swarmed on defence.

It was not a pretty match - apart from the five tries. There was little continuity in the match. The second half had little to recommend it - just one try.

The try came with time up, and there was something bemusing about it.

The Cats kicked a penalty goal to go to 22-16 and hence were candidates for a bonus point.

But captain Wikus van Heerden knocked it on. From the scrum Jimmy Gopperth kicked a high diagonal kick towards Grant Esterhuizen who earlier had failed to deal with an airborne ball and had made a try for Lome Fa'atau. Esterhuizen and Fa'atau jumped. The ball was spilled back and Isaia Toeava was on hand to get the ball and dawdle over for the try. Before he had grounded the ball, the referee blew the whistle. Then he awarded the try. Gopperth converted and the final whistle went.

The Cats had probably deserved a better fate.

For all but about three minutes of the first half the Cats were on top and actually managed to score their first Super 14 try, but at the beginning and the end of the half the Hurricanes blew in with 19 points from three tries.

The first came after three minutes in which the Cats had attacked but then Tiaan Snyman decided to drop at goal. He did it laboriously and the kick was charged down, thus allowing the Hurricanes to play. They rushed down the left and fullback Isaia Toeava flipped the sweetest of underarm passes to Lome Fa'atau on his inside. The powerful speedster stepped beyond a tackle and raced in for the try which David Holwell, starting instead of Jimmy Gopperth, converted 7-0.

Then the Cats lost Snyman with a scalp wound and replaced him with Doppies La Grange who went to centre. Earl Rose went to fly-half, Jaque Fourie to fullback and Grant Esterhuizen to the left wing.

Rose missed an easy penalty attempt but then Tana Umaga was penalised for a high tackle which he disapproved of and so announced to the referee that it was "Bullshit". Rose goaled that one. 7-3.

Willem Stoltz won a line-out and the Cats drove. Suddenly Ricky Januarie burst down the blindside close to the touch-line on the Cats' left. He played inside to Esterhuizen who scored with a swanky dive. Rose converted, and the Cats led 10-7.

More than that they deserved to be ahead. That was after 18 minutes. That is how the score stayed for another 18 minutes, and then it was  Cats' kick that made a Hurricanes' try.

The Cats were under pressure but a long way from their line and under pressure prop Pietman van Niekerk kicked. A prop kicked. He may as well just have passed the ball to the Hurricanes who attacked right and then came back left where Fourie was penalised for an early tackle on Toeava. The Hurricanes made that a five-metre line-out which they drove till they were at the line. Chris Masoe picked up at the back and dived over the tackle/ruck in front of him to score the try. Holwell converted. 14-10.

From the kick-off, the Hurricanes consolidated and Holwell booted a high ball towards the touch-line on his right. The ball dropped from its height and promptly bounced high again. Esterhuizen fluffed it and Fa'atau raced away for a comfortable try, which, oddly, Holwell did not convert. 19-10 after 38 minutes.

From the kick-off the Hurricanes ran out of their 22 again and Fa'atau footed ahead and spelt trouble for the Cats who managed to survive.

The Hurricanes came close early in the second half when twice - they did it four times in the match - the Cats overthrew the line-out. The TMO could not see if they had scored a try and they had a five-metre scrum. Gerhard Vosloo was adjudged off-side and Holwell kicked the penalty. 22-10 after 46 minutes. Their next score was 33 minutes later.

When Nonu was off-side Rose goaled. 22-13 and then with under two minutes to go he goaled again to bring his side within bonus-point range.

One of the good moments in the half was the advent of Jerry Collins. He sat quietly on the bench, then pedalled the bicycle and then stripped off his tracksuit as the crowd chanted "Jerry. Jerry." But this was Collins, not Springer and he had a little over ten minutes to play.

Man of the Match: Earl Rose did wonderful things for the Cats when he moved up to fly-half in place of scalped Tiaan Snyman. His options were not always perfect but he certainly tackled his heart out, the epitome of the Cats' evening. Gerhard Vosloo was powerful on the flank. For the Hurricanes, Chris Masoe and Rodney So'oialo were magnificent, Ma'a Nonu active and David Holwell was in control, a brave player. But our Man of the Match is Lome Fa'atau. He did not play all that often in the 80 minutes but when he did he made the difference.

The scorers:

For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Fa'atau 2, Masoe, Toeava
Cons: Holwell 2, Gopperth
Pen: Holwell

For the Cats:
Try: Esterhuizen
Con: Rose
Pens: Rose 3

Teams:

Hurricanes: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Ma'a Nonu, 12 Tana Umaga, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 David Holwell, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Rodney So'oialo (captain), 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Luke Andrews, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Paul Tito, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Joe McDonnell.
Replacements: 16 Luke Mahoney, 17 Tim Fairbrother, 18 Jerry Collins, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 Brendan Haami, 21 Jimmy Gopperth, 22 Shannon Paku

Cats: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Wylie Human, 13 Grant Esterhuizen, 12 Wayne Julies, 11 Jaque Fourie, 10 Tiaan Snyman, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Wikus van Heerden (captain), 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Trevor Hall, 3 Daniel Muller, 2 Lukas van Biljon, 1 Pietman van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Delarey du Preez, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 KleinJan Tromp, 19 Cobus Grobbelaar, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Doppies la Grange, 22 Jorrie Muller.

Referee: Scott Young (Australia)
Touch judges: Geoff Acton (Australia), Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Television match official: Greg Watson (New Zealand)
Assessor: Kim Eichmann (New Zealand)