Waikato Chiefs continued their march towards a Super 12 semifinal berth after scraping past the Northern Bulls 24-22 in a come-from-behind win yesterday.
The slim victory took them to 32 points and, with one round remaining, the perennial strugglers of the competition are on the brink of their first appearance in the play-offs.
Despite gaining a bonus point, South Africa's Bulls hopes of reaching the semifinals appear dashed as they languish mid-table on 23 points.
PHOTO: AP
The visiting Bulls led for 70 minutes at Waikato Stadium, stunning the Chiefs with three quick tries to lead 19-3 after 25 minutes.
The Chiefs had opened the scoring early with a Glen Jackson penalty, but were soon stung after Bulls' winger Sam Willard skidded over in the corner.
The Bulls crossed again in 15th minute when Bakkies Botha waltzed through the defense to score under the posts.
Willem de Waal converted to make it 12-3 and again added the extras nine minutes later after lock Ettienne Botha broke from the base of ruck just outside the 22m line, beat fullback Todd Miller and dragged a Chief's defender over the line.
The Chiefs fought back and Michael Collins scored just before halftime to make it 19-10 at the break.
Three minutes into the second period Chiefs captain Jono Gibbes crashed over to score. Jackson reduced the Bulls lead to one with a penalty 10 minutes later, but Derick Hougaard replied to extend the lead to 22-18.
Jackson was again on target to trim the lead to a single point again after Bulls No 6 Piet Krause was sinbinned for slowing play down.
And with 10 minutes left another sinbinning, this time of replacement forward Jacques Cronje for infringing in the ruck, saw David Hill slot a penalty that closed out the scoring to seal the Chiefs' seventh victory of the season.
Weekend preview
Australia's ACT Brumbies and New Zealand's Canterbury Crusaders can clinch semifinal places in the rugby Super 12 with maximum-point victories in this weekend's penultimate round of games.
The Brumbies are looking to bounce back from last week's reverse to the NSW Waratahs with a win over the Wellington Hurricanes at home today, while the four-time champion Crusaders can put the skids under the Western Stormers' playoff chances with a win in Christchurch today.
The Brumbies, winners three years ago, lead the Crusaders by a point and have destiny in their own hands despite encountering stiff opposition from the Waratahs in Sydney last weekend.
David Giffin, who missed the last two matches with a lower back injury, is on the reserves bench for the Hurricanes game at Canberra Stadium.
The Stormers, who looked strong playoff chances a few weeks ago, have seen the last of their Springbok skipper Corne Krige, who this week was banned for eight weeks for headbutting in last week's loss to the Waikato Chiefs.
The suspension has ended Krige's Super 12 career. He had earlier confirmed he would be quitting South African rugby at the end of the competition.
Selborne Boome has replaced Krige as Stormers' captain against the Crusaders.
The Crusaders will be strongly favored to win at home having claimed all of their three previous Christchurch encounters against the Stormers, who must win to fend off the playoff challenges of the Waratahs and Coastal Sharks.
The Waratahs, impressive over the last two weeks after a mid-season slump, have retained their winning lineup for their final home game against the Otago Highlanders today.
Last weekend, NSW downed the Brumbies 37-29 and are hoping to attract their third successive sellout crowd to Sydney Football Stadium for the afternoon match.
Queensland Reds can condemn the Golden Cats to this season's wooden spoon with victory over the South African franchise in Bloemfontein today.
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