The Golden Lions, beaten in the past three Super Rugby finals, failed to reach the knockout phase this season after a 48-27 hammering by fellow South African club the Northern Bulls on Saturday as the semi-final matchups were decided by the final regular-season game.
The Johannesburg-based Lions needed one point from the match at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria to secure a quarter-finals place, but after scoring within a minute of the kick-off, they conceded four tries to trail 31-19 by halftime.
A Cyle Brink try narrowed the gap to just four points on 56 minutes, but the visitors then faded and conceded three more tries to finish a well-beaten team.
Photo: AFP
The Otago Highlanders from New Zealand were grateful for the result, as they crept into the quarter-finals, finishing one point above the Lions in the combined standings. The Lions finished the regular season with more wins than the Highlanders, meaning they would have advanced had the two teams finished equal on competition points.
The other last-eight place on the line on Saturday went to the Coastal Sharks after a dramatic 12-9 win over the Western Stormers, who began the match one point ahead of their opponents. The Stormers were leading by four points when the hooter sounded for fulltime, but the Sharks kept the ball in play and Lukhanyo Am scored an 82nd-minute try.
The quarter-finals are to begin on Friday with an all-New Zealand clash between defending champions the Canterbury Crusaders and the Highlanders in Christchurch. On Saturday, the Wellington Hurricanes host the Bulls, the ACT Brumbies meet the Sharks in Canberra and the Jaguares face the Waikato Chiefs in Buenos Aires.
The Jaguares finished the regular season with a 52-10 win over the Sunwolves.
The Crusaders look ominous as they bid for a third consecutive Super Rugby crown, with news that they expect to be at full strength for the play-offs.
The nine-time champions already have an impressive record, having never lost a home playoff game since Super Rugby’s launch in 1996 and they are unbeaten in their past 27 home fixtures.
The Crusaders achieved home-ground advantage for the play-offs despite having many of their All Blacks out of action for much of the season, but they are to return at the weekend.
Tighthead prop Owen Franks, who has been plagued by a shoulder injury and only played four games in the regular season, has been cleared to return as has hooker Codie Taylor, who has been out for a month with a broken finger.
Another All Blacks frontrower Tim Perry, who broke an arm in round one, rejoined the side for their final pool match, while senior All Blacks Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock were rested for the first month to manage their workload in a World Cup year.
“To win a championship, a lot has got to go right. Full squad, full team. To give every chance to go through in that finals series, you need to have the opportunity to pick your best squad,” Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said.
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