South Africa's Natal Sharks opened a two-point break at the top of rugby's Super 14 to continue their unbeaten run at the expense of New Zealand's Otago Highlanders this weekend.
The Sharks won their third straight home fixture 23-16 with enigmatic Springbok fullback Percy Montgomery cashing in with all the points.
The Durban franchise are now two points ahead of fellow South Africans Central Cheetahs, who staved off the New South Wales Waratahs 30-26 in Kimberley to claim a try-scoring bonus point.
PHOTO: AFP
It is a rousing start to the 12th edition of the southern hemisphere provincial tournament for South African teams, who usually struggle over the course of the series with the majority of their away matches in Australia and New Zealand.
Four teams, including tournament surprises Western Force, head the chasers three points behind the Sharks on nine points.
The Perth-based Force, wooden spooners in their inaugural season last year, leave South Africa after two wins in an encouraging start to the campaign under former All Blacks coach John Mitchell.
PHOTO: AFP
Winger Cameron Shepherd scored 25 points as the Force held on for a 30-27 win over South Africa's Northern Bulls in Pretoria on Friday.
The Auckland Blues lost their unbeaten start to the season going down 23-22 to fellow New Zealanders Wellington Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.
ACT Brumbies failed to score a try in their second consecutive outing with a dreary 6-3 win over the Queensland Reds in an all-Australian match in Brisbane on Saturday, in the lowest-scoring match in Super history.
South Africa's Golden Lions leapfrogged the Canterbury Crusaders on the standings with a 9-3 win over the six-time champions in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Another South African outfit, the Western Stormers, recorded their first win of the tournament, downing the Waikato Chiefs from New Zealand 21-16 in Cape Town on Friday.
Montgomery scored two tries, converted both and landed three penalties out of four attempts in the Sharks' win over the Highlanders.
The match also marked the return to Super 14 action of former Springbok captain and No. 8 Bob Skinstad, who came on with nine minutes left.
In Kimberley, the Waratahs were 19-3 down at one stage and fought their way back to trail 22-20 before skipper Juan Smith sealed it for the Cheetahs with a bonus point clinching try.
The Waratahs lost captain Phil Waugh as a result of ankle ligament problems in the opening moments of the match.
In Pretoria, Shepherd scored two of the Force's three tries in a scintillating match, which the Bulls led 17-9 at the break.
The Force had beaten the Western Stormers the previous week and had to withstand a ferocious final effort from Victor Matfield's Bulls before prevailing.
The one-point defeat to the Hurricanes was a reality check for Auckland, who were full of confidence after consecutive victories over the defending champion Crusaders and the ACT Brumbies.
Instead it was last year's beaten finalists the Hurricanes, in front of their home crowd, who had the firepower out wide and a new-look forward pack determined to create something out of nothing.
In Johannesburg, neither side scored a try but flyhalf Louis Strydom proved the difference for the Lions kicking three penalties to the Crusaders' two.
The Brumbies beat the limited Reds on the back of penalty goals from Stirling Mortlock and Julian Huxley to eclipse the previous lowest-scoring game in the provincial tournament three years ago.
Queensland hold the distinction of featuring in both the lowest-scoring games having beaten the Sharks 6-5 in Durban in April 2004 in the then Super 12 competition.
In a poor advertisement for the game, both sides bumbled and fumbled their way through 80 minutes of the Australian derby.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was