Daniel Carter scored 17 points from goalkicks to lift the Canterbury Crusaders to a 27-16 win over South Africa's Stormers in a Super 12 rugby semifinal at Jade Stadium on Saturday.
Carter kicked five penalties and a conversion -- six goals from seven attempts -- to advance the Crusaders, four-time champions, to a Super 12 final for the sixth time.
PHOTO: AFP
All Blacks halfback Justin Marshall, whose place in the match was threatened by injury, scored the first of Canterbury's two tries and played a pivotal leadership role in the closely balanced match.
Winger Caleb Ralph scored the second try 12 minutes from fulltime to give last year's finalists an 11-point advantage -- the small security of the largest lead in the match.
Springbok center De Wet Barry scored the game's first try for the Stormers who led 13-12 at halftime. But wearied by travel, the visitors faded under constant pressure in the second half.
The Stormers have played twice in Christchurch in the last two weeks, losing on both occasions, and have crossed 20 time zones on an arduous journey to the semifinals.
Canterbury played no-frills rugby Saturday, building strong, layered defense and more often promoting the ball through the forwards than through a backline studded with All Blacks.
"The guys stood up tonight," said Crusaders captain Reuben Thorne.
"The Stormers came here and threw everything into it as we knew they would. The first half was all about pressure. They put heaps on us but we managed to stay close. We piled it on a bit more in the second half and came away with the win.
"It was great to have [Justin] Marshall back directing the play and he made a huge difference.''
Marshall was in doubt for the match until Friday, having been sidelined for two weeks with a serious hip injury.
"Our attitude at the start of every season is that we've got to get into top four," Marshall said. "We managed to achieve that although it's been a roller-coaster season.
"I suppose we've got the benefit of being in this situation a few times in the past. We know if you apply yourself and commit to giving your best performance when it counts you can do anything."
The match began with an exchange of penalties between Carter and Stormers flyhalf Gaffie du Toit, who kicked four goals Saturday from as many attempts.
Barry broke a 6-6 deadlock when he pierced Canterbury's midfield defense in the 29th minute and stretched to reach the line.
Marshall gave Canterbury its first lead when he scored in the 41st minute after attacks down the left flank through Ralph and the right through Marika Vunibaka.
Du Toit and Ralph swapped penalties before Ralph made the game safe with a 68th-minute try. Canterbury gained a five-meter scrum and moved the ball quickly into a left hand overlap to give Ralph the final, scoring pass.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
NBA team owners on Tuesday authorized league officials to begin an in-depth analysis regarding expansion, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver said there was no timetable for any changes. The NBA board of governors meeting in Las Vegas marked the first time team owners officially discussed expanding the league beyond 30 teams, but Silver said they went no deeper than requesting more research into the possibility. “There is a significant step now in that we’re now engaging in this in-depth analysis,” Silver said. “It’s something we weren’t prepared to do before, but beyond that, it’s really day one of that analysis. In terms
RSS