Ben Lam goes all right for a bloke with work-ons.

Never mind that he's Super Rugby top tryscorer, with some eye-catching efforts now among his tally of 12. The experts will tell you the Hurricanes wing has a few flaws to iron out.

Well, he continues to flatten defenders all right and left a few Lions in his wake as the Hurricanes produced a scratchy 28-19 win at Westpac Stadium on Saturday night. Lam registered a hat-trick and will be hard to bench anytime soon, despite the Hurricanes' backline riches.

PHOTOSPORT

Ben Lam bagged himself a hat-trick, as the Hurricanes beat the Lions at Westpac Stadium.

But where Lam did his job fairly well in this game, the rest of the team probably won't dwell on the performance with great fondness.

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Things began well enough for the Hurricanes when Lam crossed for his 10th try of the season, in just the eighth minute. Ardie Savea raced in 18 minutes later and, with Beauden Barrett converting both, the hosts were out to a handy 14-0 lead.

PHOTOSPORT

An ankle injury to Jordie Barrett saw Nehe Milner-Skudder start at fullback for the Hurricanes.

It's just that they weren't really that convincing. Some of the decision making and skill execution was average and, in the absence of real front-foot ball, guys opted for the odd miracle.

It made for a frustrating, stop-start spectacle in which the Lions remained in touch through little good work of their own.

Sure they were tackling okay and competing in the set pieces, but beyond that the Lions didn't appear to have much to offer.

PHOTOSPORT

Julian Savea was busy for the Hurricanes.

If they were going to score, you presumed it would be courtesy of a Hurricanes mistake. Halfback Finlay Christie didn't disappoint, throwing an errant pass that led to fullback Nehe Milner-Skudder being trapped in-goal.

From the resultant scrum, Lions halfback Nic Groom wriggled over and Elton Jantjies' conversion gave us a 14-7 halftime scoreline. Injured halfback TJ Perenara is an outside chance to be fit to play the Blues next week and, on this showing, his return couldn't come soon enough.

Milner-Skudder, meanwhile, had been a late inclusion in the starting XV after Jordie Barrett rolled an ankle during Friday's Captain's Run. He'd felt fit enough to play, but was eventually a very late scratching.

PHOTOSPORT

Left wing Ben Lam loped in for the first of the Hurricanes' tries.

You wondered whether that try - deserved or otherwise - might spark the Lions. But it was the Hurricanes who were next to score when that man Lam went over in the corner, after multiple phases in the Lions' 22.

In windy conditions, hardly made for for goalkicking, Beauden Barrett again converted from touch and things looked a lot better at 21-7.

Plenty's been said about Lam's pace and power this year, but he's also very dainty for a big man and has pretty good hands.

And, come the 54th-minute, he was running in his hat-trick. The movement had begun with a nice Ngani Laumape ball to Barrett, before Matt Proctor put Lam away for yet another try.

The experts will tell you Lam has deficiencies in his game and shouldn't be in the All Blacks' frame. But that ignores the good things he appears to do better than just about any wing in the competition.

At some point that has the outweigh whatever the bad stuff is.

The team ought to have gone on with the job at 28-7 but late tries to Marnus Schoeman and Sylvian Mahuza meant the Lions finished a bit nearer than they should've.

Hurricanes 28 (Ben Lam 3, Ardie Savea tries; Beauden Barrett 3 con) Lions 19 (Nic Groom, Marnus Schoeman, Sylvian Mahuza tries; Elton Jantjies 2 con). HT: 14-7.

 - Stuff