The Waikato Chiefs scored two tries in the opening 12 minutes of their game yesterday and secured a bonus point before halftime in beating the ACT Brumbies 42-28 in Super 14 rugby.
Winger Sitiveni Sivivatu and center Callum Bruce scored early tries to ruin Stirling Mortlock’s 100th game for the Brumbies. The Chiefs scored their fourth try — giving them a bonus point — in the 33rd minute, when Stephen Donald crossed for the second time as the visitors led 28-7 at halftime.
Sivivatu regathered his own kick in the seventh minute to open the scoring before he steamed onto a short ball from halfback Brendon Leonard five minutes later — after a Chiefs lineout win 40m from the Brumbies line — and put Bruce over.
PHOTO: AP
The Brumbies briefly came into the contest when George Smith stepped through some flimsy Waikato defense to set up a try for his brother Tyrone Smith, in the 18th minute. Mortlock’s conversion, in his comeback game from a shoulder injury, closed the deficit to seven points.
But two solo efforts from Donald in the 25th and 33rd minutes put the Chiefs firmly back in control.
The visitors’ only concern at halftime was a leg injury to Mils Muliaina that ended the Waikato captain’s game in the 20th minute.
Waikato went up 35-7 in the 45th minute before the Brumbies responded with two tries to narrow the deficit to 35-21 with 15 minutes left. The Chiefs scored again on a turnover and later added a sixth try to post their fifth win in eight matches and third in a row.
The Brumbies, who had a bye last weekend and picked up a bonus point for scoring four tries, including two by Josh Holmes, dropped to three wins and four losses.
“To come over here and defend like we did, I’m pretty proud of them,’’ Waikato coach Ian Foster said.
ACT coach Laurie Fischer was disappointed with the number of turnovers.
“If you turn over the ball, it doesn’t matter where it is on the park, it creates pressure,’’ Fischer said.
Meanwhile, the Otago Highlanders survived second half stutters to post their first Super 14 win of the season with a 29-20 victory over fellow cellar-dwellers the Golden Lions in Dunedin yesterday.
The Highlanders, battling with an inexperienced team this year, nearly threw the game away when they squandered an 18-point lead, allowing the South Africans to come within a point midway through the second half.
But a late penalty and a try by replacement back Aaron Bancroft ensured the four try to three victory and a welcome bonus point.
Highlanders captain Craig Newby said his side felt they were the better team throughout, but eased off in the third quarter when the Lions scored three tries in just seven minutes.
“For 20 minutes there, it looked like we were going to capitulate but we dug deep and got over,” a relieved Newby said afterwards.
The Highlanders have reason to celebrate after six straight losses, most by narrow margins.
“Six games in a row to lose, it’s pretty tough and we’ve been doing it tough, playing really well and not getting over the line,” Newby said.
The Lions were outplayed for the first 41 minutes of the game, which saw them down 21-3 just after halftime.
But the Highlanders lost their focus, allowing the dangerous Lions outside backs the room to create tries for flyhalf Jaco van Schalkwyk, inside center Walter Venter and No. 8 Willem Alberts.
Two of the tries came through a shaky Highlanders lineout turning over possession, although the Johannesburg-based team had their own problems with their scrum in the first spell.
The Lions opened the match brightly, moving the ball from side to side through the backline, but it was the Highlanders who opened the scoring through inside center Johnny Leota in the ninth minute.
A clever offload by No. 8 Newby allowed Leota to cut inside and touch down in a move he repeated 20 minutes later.
From a set move at a scrum, Leota took a clever little pass from flyhalf James Wilson, which allowed him to again scythe inside the ragged Lions defense.
The Highlanders extended their lead to 18 points just a minute into the second spell when fullback Paul Williams, the son of former All Black winger Bryan Williams, showed the advantage of good genes.
He received the ball from a quick throw in, rounded a Lions forward and flew through acres of space to beat the cover defense to the line.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care