South African playmaker Peter Grant yesterday kicked and guided Western Force to a morale-boosting 40-26 win over the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby in Brisbane.
Grant, the former Springbok and Western Stormers flyhalf, kicked seven of seven with three conversions and four penalty goals as the Force put behind them damaging uncertainty over their future to all but end the Reds’ remote finals hopes.
Both sides scored four tries each, but it was 32-year-old Grant’s steady goal-kicking that proved the difference, as the Force won for the third straight time against the disappointing Reds.
The Force still do not know if they will be playing in next year’s competition given the continuing uncertainty, with the Australian Rugby Union still to decide on which of its five teams to cull.
Queensland looked set to go on to victory after Wallaby skipper and hooker Stephen Moore scored his second try for the Reds to lead 26-21 with 20 minutes left.
However, the Force refused to give in and rattled off 19 unanswered points to win comfortably, with Wallaby lock Adam Coleman outstanding at the set-piece and making 14 tackles.
Once again the Reds were their own worst enemy with two yellow cards in the second half: to scrumhalf Nick Frisby and winger Eto Nabuli.
The Reds indiscipline has cost them 12 yellow cards this season, more than any other team in Super Rugby.
Earlier at Eden Park, the Auckland Blues battled hard to keep their Super Rugby season alive, but were held to a 16-16 draw by the Waikato Chiefs in miserable conditions.
Blues flyhalf Piers Francis narrowly missed a penalty that would have given the home side a three-point lead with seven minutes to go and neither side could break the deadlock as they played out their first-ever stalemate.
The Chiefs battled back from a 13-3 deficit in the first half, with live-wire fullback Damien McKenzie scoring a try and setting up a second for Jonathan Faauli in the 68th minute.
Rieko Ioane scored the Blues’ sole try in the first half.
The Blues are eight points adrift of the Highlanders in the New Zealand conference, but the Otago-based team can end the Auckland side’s hopes of a playoff spot while sealing their own with a home win over the New South Wales Waratahs today.
Second in the New Zealand conference, the Chiefs moved two points ahead of the Hurricanes, who take on the Bulls in South Africa today.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but