Winger Zac Guildford scored two tries, the second a game clincher in the 75th minute, as the Canterbury Crusaders edged the Auckland Blues 23-16 in their Super Rugby match in Timaru yesterday.
The victory for the Crusaders, which extended the Blues’ losing streak to four games, moved them to top of the New Zealand conference on 57 points, before they meet the Hurricanes in Wellington next week in the last round of matches.
The Blues have 56 points and finish the regular season at home to the Otago Highlanders on Friday.
Photo: Reuters
“It was an outstanding game, probably not the most pretty to watch, but both teams really wanted that game,” Crusaders captain Kieran Read said.
While several All Blacks contenders, including Blues lock Ali Williams and inside center Benson Stanley were impressive, coach Graham Henry will be concerned with the injury toll from the bruising encounter.
Crusaders inside center Sonny Bill Williams limped off after 24 minutes with a hip injury, while Blues winger Rene Ranger, who had scored a brilliant individual try, left with a hamstring injury.
The Crusaders had to fight back from an 8-0 deficit following an early Luke McAlister penalty and Ranger’s try that was set up by fullback Jared Payne’s incision into the line and Ranger’s delicate grubber-kick that danced along the sideline.
Flyhalf Daniel Carter got the Crusaders on the board with a penalty, before openside flanker Matt Todd barged over after a speculative kick and chase by the Canterbury side had set up a ruck on the Blues line.
Carter added his second penalty to give the Crusaders a 13-8 lead and the momentum heading into the break, before McAlister added his second penalty to ensure the Blues remained in the hunt at 13-11 at halftime.
The Blues made a schoolboy error straight after the second half kickoff when no one protected the ball at the back of the breakdown, allowing Read to swoop on it and feed to a flying Guildford who dived over in the corner.
However, the Auckland side struck back when prop Charlie Faumuina, who had what appeared to be a legitimate try ruled out by the television official, crashed over shortly after to make it 18-16.
Guildford, who had impressed with his work rate and a try-saving tackle, then sealed the win when he raced on to a brilliant cross kick from Carter to ensure the Crusaders victory.
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