Cory Jane scored three tries as the Hurricanes saw off the Reds 35-21 in Wellington on Saturday.
Despite totally dominating the proceedings, the Canes were made to work hard for their victory.
It was the Reds who opened the scoring, with a well worked try from Ben Lucas. That was about as good as it got for the visitors, though, who were outplayed in almost every facet of the game.
The Canes responded with two tries from Jane, but the Reds kept in touch through the boot of Quade Cooper, as they headed into the break 14-10 to the good.
TJ Perenara snuck over for a try early in the second half, before Jane wrapped up his hat-trick as the Canes produced some scintillating running rugby on the way to their fourth successive victory.
James Hansen went over for the Reds to set up a nervy final 10 minutes. But Canes had the final say, with Ardie Savea putting the win beyond doubt and moving them to the top of the New Zealand conference.
Hurricanes – Tries: Cory Jane (3), TJ Perenara, Ardie Savea. Conversions: Beauden Barrett (2). Penalties: Barrett (2).
Reds – Tries: Ben Lucas, James Hansen. Conversion: Quade Cooper. Penalties: Cooper (3).
Hurricanes – 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith (c), 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ben Franks.
Subs: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Reggie Goodes, 19 Blade Thomson, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Tim Bateman, 23 Matt Proctor.
Reds – 15 Ben Lucas, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Eddie Quirk, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 James Slipper, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 1 Ben Daley.
Subs: 16 James Hanson, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Jono Owen, 19 Ed O'Donoghue, 20 Curtis Browning, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Anthony Fainga'a, 23 Rod Davies.
Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
