The Otago Highlanders yesterday beat the Auckland Blues 41-34 in a helter-skelter Super Rugby New Zealand Conference season opener in Dunedin.
The end-to-end thriller featured nine tries, including doubles for Rob Thompson and Teihorangi Walden of the Highlanders, as well as Blues wing Rieko Ioane.
The Highlanders scored five to four, only managing to hold onto the lead when the frantic pace of play finally slowed in the final 15 minutes.
It continued a dismal run for coach Tana Umaga’s Blues, who finished last in the conference last season and have not beaten a New Zealand side since the first match of 2016.
The three-time champions have not made the playoffs since 2011, but newly anointed captain Augustine Pulu said he remained confident of improvement this season.
“We got the effort and that’s all you can ask for, but we’re still disappointed and there’s a few things we can work on,” Pulu said. “We’re going to build from this.”
In Melbourne, the Rebels got their Super Rugby season off to a record-breaking start with a 45-19 bonus-point demolition of the 14-man Reds in an Australian derby.
A red card after 10 minutes for visiting captain Scott Higginbotham left the Reds a man short and the Rebels took advantage, running in seven tries, the most they have managed in Super Rugby and setting a new mark for points scored by the team in one game.
Winger Sefanaia Naivalu, fullback Dane Haylett-Petty and flyhalf Jack Debreczeni scored two tries each to go with a score for center Tom English as the Rebels ran riot.
The Reds managed three tries through centers Duncan Paia’aua and Samu Kerevi, and winger Chris Feauai-Sautis, with two of those converted by scrumhalf James Tuttle.
“We had moments in the game where we clocked off, but to get a win in round one and start on a positive note, I’ll take that,” Rebels captain Adam Coleman said. “We will learn a lot from this match.”
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set