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Sharks knock Auckland off top spot

Sharks players, left to right, Bradley Barritt, JP Pietersen and Tendai Mtawarira celebrate after their win in the round eleven Super 14 match against the Blues at North Harbor Stadium in Auckland yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

South Africa's Sharks ended Auckland's nine-week reign atop the Super 14 table, beating the Blues 32-25 at North Harbor Stadium yesterday.

Winger J.P. Pietersen scored a try in each half as the Sharks inflicted the Blues' second loss of the season, handing top spot on the championship ladder to the Canterbury Crusaders, who earlier beat the Otago Highlanders 38-3.

The Sharks, who remain third in the table behind the Crusaders and Blues, scored two disputed tries to lead 19-6 at halftime and sealed their win with Pietersen's second try at the beginning of the second half.

The Sharks' first try, to winger Odwa Ndungane, came from a pass which was almost two meters forward but was not called by Australian referee Stuart Dickinson. Dickinson was not alerted to the offense by his touch judges.

The second try, to Pietersen, came when a Sharks forward appeared to interfere with the ball at the base of an Auckland ruck near the goal line.

The Sharks had been able to embellish their first-half lead with a penalty to Percy Montgomery from a late tackle by Sam Tuitupou, although television replays showed the tackle was fair.

Tuitupou was sin-binned in the second half for punching Sharks lock Johan Ackerman, but he appeared to be punched first by Ackerman.

The Sharks had treated as an insult the Blues' decision to rest their All Blacks for the match, taking that as an act of disrespect. They responded with a gritty, physical performance which intimidated the Blues and disrupted their successful pattern.

The Sharks tested Auckland with high kicks, followed up to devastating effect by Pietersen. They harried the Blues in broken play and Auckland's discipline steadily frayed, its backplay dissolved in handling errors.

The Sharks supplemented their tries with two dropped goals to young flyhalf Francois Steyn, one from 55 meters.

Auckland regrouped to score second-half tries by Keven Mealamu, David Gibson and Daniel Braid but they came too late, after the Sharks had established a peak lead of 26-6, to disrupt the visitors' control.

Crusaders 38 Highlanders 3

All Blacks flyhalf Daniel Carter scored a try among 16 points as the defending champions Canterbury Crusaders beat the Otago Highlanders 38-3 in Super 14 rugby yesterday.

Carter scored the Crusaders' first try after six minutes, added the conversion and landed a 23rd-minute penalty to steer the defending champions to a hard-earned 10-3 lead at halftime.

He added an extraordinary conversion of Caleb Ralph's try in the 47th minute of the second half, sending the ball on a low crossfield trajectory from the left-hand touchline then causing it to swerve back between the uprights.

Carter also converted Casey Laulala's tries in the 61st minute and 69th minutes which clinched the match and filled out the Crusaders' biggest-ever win against the Highlanders.

Rua Tipoki's try in second-half stoppage time and Stephen Brett's conversion made the margin 35 points, beating the Crusaders' previous record margin against the Highlanders of 23 points.

Chiefs 64 Force 36

The Waikato Chiefs muscled their way into the Super 14 top four with an overwhelming 64-36 win over the Western Force in a 14-try spectacular yesterday.

The Chiefs recovered from a slow start to run in nine of the tries to put themselves firmly in play-off contention despite winning just four of their 10 outings, and benefiting from nine bonus points.

In a match which produced a staggering 100 points, the Chiefs' attacking ability was the standout feature, but questions were raised about their defense as they leaked six tries.

"We attacked with purpose and ran hard and asked questions of them. It's a bit of a tick in the attack box but we have a bit more work to do on defense," said winning captain Jono Gibbes.

For Force coach John Mitchell it was a heartbreaking "homecoming" to the ground where he established himself in rugby circles playing for Waikato as he watched his side concede more than 50 points for the second week in a row.

Waratahs 26 Reds 13

Fullback Peter Hewat kicked 16 points -- four penalties and two conversions -- to lead New South Wales to a 26-13 win over the Queensland Reds in a match between the teams with the worst records in Super 14 rugby this season.
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