Patience paid off for the Hurricanes as they ground down the Force before blowing them away in the final quarter of their Investec Super Rugby match at CET Stadium in Palmerston North.

With captain and hooker Dane Coles leading from the front in his first match since last year’s Rugby World Cup final, the Hurricanes ran in six tries to the Force’s none to win 41-6 in front of 8,300 home fans.

Coles got the ball rolling when he stretched over for the first try following a clever lineout move that saw him interchange passes with openside Ardie Savea before planting the ball over the try line.

It was reward for a tough opening 25 minutes that had seen the Force put up a determined resistance up front, but weight of possession eventually took its toll on the visitors.

A slender 10-3 halftime lead didn’t fully tell the story of how much pressure the Hurricanes were putting the Force under across the park.

Force captain Matt Hodgson was exceptional, but against the combined pace and power of Savea and blindside Vaea Fifita in his starting debut, he was fighting a losing battle.

Savea was immense around the field, while Fifita made a huge impact both with and without the ball in his hands.

The Hurricanes didn’t overcomplicate their game play. Second five eighth Ngani Laumape, a Palmerston North Boys High School old boy, was a force to himself in front of his home crowd.

He put the Hurricanes on the front foot from set piece and Beauden Barrett  and TJ Perenara directed traffic  from the phase play.

Lock Mark Abbott and prop Chris Eves were relentless with their ball carrying and fellow lock Blade Thomson thrived on the fringes where he constantly challenged the Force defence.

It was all too much for the Force who eventually ran out of steam. The Hurricanes poured on three tries in 10 minutes to seal the game, their reserves bench doing a brilliant job of closing the match.

First fullback James Marshall dived over in the corner to cap a fine match, then replacement centre Willis Halaholo sparked two tries in quick succession, the first to Thomson and the second to Perenara.

Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd emptied his bench with lock Michael Fatialofa making a strong Super Rugby debut with some big hits and Halaholo and halfback Jamison Gibson-Park both adding energy and pace in the final quarter.

Gibson-Park’s quick tap saw Laumape dive over in the corner and Ardie Savea capped thigns off when he controlled the ball at the back of the drive and dotted down for the final try of the match. It capped off a 31 point final quarter master-class from the 2015 finalists and saw them move briefly to joint top of the New Zealand Conference with the Chiefs.

Coles said the key to the performance was working hard against a side they knew would take plenty of work to subdue.

“We knew they were going to be a team we had to grind away. The first half we showed good intensity but they were still hanging on. We kept that intensity up and knew that it would pay off. I thought our reserves really added value when they came on. “

The Hurricanes now look toward their first home match at Westpac Stadium next Friday when they will play the Southern Kings from South Africa.

SCORERS: Hurricanes 41 (B. Thomson, N. Laumape, TJ Perenara, J.Marshall, A. Savea, D.Coles tries, B. Barrett 4 con, 1 pen) Force 6 (Peter Grant 2 pen)