Super Rugby pacesetters the Waikato Chiefs had to dig deep to avoid an upset loss to the Auckland Blues in a frantic New Zealand derby in Hamilton yesterday.
The Chiefs scored five tries to two in the 29-23 win, but the game was in the balance until the dying minutes, when All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick’s five-pointer capped a superb return from injury.
The result took the Chiefs’ winning streak to five matches, cementing their place at the top of the table and confirming their status as the form team of this year’s competition.
While the Tana Umaga-coached Blues have been inconsistent this year, Chiefs skipper Sam Cane said they were always going to lift when facing their North Island rivals.
“If you read the paper you’d think we were going to blow them off the park, but we know the history of these Chiefs-Blues clashes and they had a point to prove,” Cane said. “We knew we’d have to grind it out.”
The Chiefs took an early lead when prop Mitchell Graham picked up Brad Weber’s speculative pass from the sideline and touched down.
Their second try came when Charlie Ngatai took off from deep in his own half after a line-out steal, dodging two defenders to set up a try for Shaun Stevenson.
The Blues created plenty of chances, but let themselves down with poor discipline and handling errors, although two Ihaia West penalties meant the gap was only 10-6 at halftime.
Their execution improved with two tries just after the restart, the first a spectacular effort from Melani Nanai, who gathered a kick on halfway and zig-zagged through the Chiefs defense.
Reiko Ioane scored another two minutes later, bouncing off two tacklers to give the Blues a 20-10 lead.
However, they could not hold on to the lead as Aaron Cruden clawed back a try for the Chiefs then set up another for Seta Tamanivalu to put them ahead 22-20.
It was desperate, end-to-end play in the final 10 minutes, but Retallick sealed it when he broke free from a crush of bodies and stretched his lanky frame over the line.
Blues fly-half West then sent over a penalty with the last kick of the game to narrow the gap to less than seven points, earning Auckland a bonus point.
In Australia, Jordan Taufua scored the Canterbury Crusaders’ third try minutes before the final hooter to avoid an upset loss to the Western Force with a 20-19 win.
Additional reporting by staff writer
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and