The Hurricanes rallied late to record their first win of the season, beating the Crusaders 29-28 in a thrilling encounter in Wellington on Friday.

It may have required a late intercept, but the never-say-die attitude of the home team meant the seven-time Super Rugby champion Crusaders are still looking for their first win of the season.

The showed their full array of skills when they overcame a sloppy first half - trailing 7-12 at the break - to outscore the home team by four tries to two.

And while, after the break, the Crusaders raced into a 28-19 lead, the score of the match was Julian Savea's brutal run down the left wing for the Canes' first try - in which he matter-of-factly bumped Tom Marshall and Israel Dagg out the way.

And then came the winning score in the 74th minute - when George Whitelock threw a loopy wide pass and Alapati Leiua gladly accepted the gift to race over under the uprights.

The Hurricanes hang on bravely in the face of some desperate raids by the Crusaders to open their account.

The scorers:

For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Savea, Leiua
Cons: Barrett 2
Pens: Barrett 5

For the Crusaders:
Tries: Crotty, Flynn, Dagg, Carter
Cons: Carter 4

Teams:

Hurricanes: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Conrad Smith (captain), 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Karl Lowe, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Ben May, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 James Marshall, 22 Reynold Lee-Lo.

Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Tom Marshall, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Johnny McNicholl, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Matt Todd, 6 George Whitelock, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Tom Donnelly, 19 Luke Whitelock, 20 Willi Heinz, 21 Tom Taylor, 22 Adam Whitelock.

Referee: Andrew Lees (Australia)
Assistant referees: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand), Shane McDermott (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)