New South Wales and the ACT Brumbies share first place after two rounds of the Super 12 rugby union tournament while New Zealand sides lost three matches Saturday, two of them in South Africa.
Mat Rogers scored a try and kicked eight goals Saturday as New South Wales beat the Sharks 48-14. The Brumbies, who had a first-round upset over defending champion Auckland last week, thrashed the Cats 68-28 in Canberra on Friday night.
The Queensland Reds recovered from a humbling opening loss last week to Otago and overcame New Zealand side Waikato 39-25 at Ballymore on Saturday. Steve Kefu shrugged off a drug investigation last week to score two tries in the opening 10 minutes.
PHOTO: AP
In matches in South Africa, the Bulls beat Wellington 40-19 in Pretoria and the Stormers defeated Otago 46-25 in Cape Town.
On Friday, Auckland recovered from its opening loss to edge Canterbury 38-29 in a replay of last year's grand final. The Crusaders, who won three titles in four seasons and lost the 2003 decider to Auckland, are winless after two rounds.
New South Wales got a bonus-point win over the Sharks to join the Brumbies on 10 competition points despite conceding the first try Saturday when former Scotland international Gregor Townsend stripped the ball from Lote Tuqiri and scooted over from close range.
The Waratahs, who upset Canterbury at Christchurch in the first round, responded with two penalties from fullback Rogers and a try to rookie flyhalf Tim Donnelly.
Rogers landed the sideline conversion and, after a glaring fumble and missing a long-range shot at goal, created the Waratahs' second try for Milton Thaiday on the half hour. He added the extras and then crossed himself, beating four tacklers to touch down beside the posts. His conversion gave the hosts a 27-7 lead at half time.
In Brisbane, Kefu overcame the after-effects of a rare facial paralysis and a doping investigation as Queensland raced to a 12-3 lead over Waikato, which upset Wellington in the first round.
Kefu contracted Bell's Palsy in New Zealand last week and sat out the lopsided first-round loss to Otago.
To treat the illness, doctors in New Zealand gave him a drug that features on the International Rugby Board's list of banned substances. But he was cleared of a doping offense after an Australian Rugby Union investigation.
Kefu contributed to the Chief's first try, throwing an ill-directed pass that Glenn Jackson intercepted to score and convert and bring the New Zealanders back within two points. But Australian vice-captain Elton Flatley landed two penalties to give the Queenslanders an 18-10 lead at half time.
The Chiefs rallied to level at 18-all in the second half before Flatley put fullback Chris Latham over in the 63rd minute as the Reds regained the advantage.
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS