Canterbury captain Richie McCaw put future opponents on alert Saturday when he said his team's 47-21 win over Queensland lacked "polish" and demanded improvement.
The Crusaders took a bonus point from a six-try victory over the Reds at Ballymore to assume their accustomed station at the top of the Super 14 table, tied on 10 points with the Wellington Hurricanes who beat the Western Force 29-5 earlier Saturday.
All Blacks flyhalf Daniel Carter scored two tries among 27 points for the Crusaders and might have had more but his moderate kicking performance brought only seven successes from 12 attempts.
PHOTO: EPA
The scoreline hid the fact the Queensland Reds competed for most of the match, led 14-11 at halftime and were still narrowly ahead with three quarters of the match elapsed.
After a first half try to Wallaby Drew Mitchell, a second half score by captain Chris Latham gave the Reds a 21-16 lead and hope of an upset victory. Canterbury tore apart those hopes with a magnificent counterattacking performance which brought four tries, including Carter's second, in the last 14 minutes.
All Blacks Casey Laulaua, Rico Gear and Aaron Mauger also scored as the Crusaders turned an even match into a rout.
PHOTO: AP
"We didn't feel like ourselves in the first half," said Crusaders captain Richie McCaw.
"We realized at halftime that we had to hold onto the ball, work harder and we did that in the second half. But it certainly wasn't polished," he said.
The Hurricanes also took their second straight bonus point from a four-try win over the Force, but only one of those tries came in the second half as Wellington gave up territory and possession to the young expansion side.
All Blacks forwards Jason Eaton and Andrew Hore and Samoan international winger Lome Fa'atau scored tries as the Hurricanes established a 22-0 lead by halftime. Starved of possession and camped in their own half, they had to wait until the 75th minute for Eaton's second try to clinch a bonus point.
The New South Wales Waratahs came from behind to beat the Stormers 32-26 at Newlands in Cape Town, South Africa, and earn a bonus point for scoring four tries.
The Stormers led 20-10 at halftime and 26-20 with 10 minutes to play, but the Waratahs converted its possession into two more tries to earn a bonus point.
Replacement flyhalf Daniel Halangahu slipped through the defense from a lineout to score a try in the 70th minute. Peter Hewat converted to give the Waratahs the lead, and Sam Norton-Knight rounded off a good performance to score another five minutes later.
"We made mistakes under pressure in the second half and that cost us the game," Stormers captain De Wet Barry said.
Waratahs captain Chris Whitaker was pleased to win after being under pressure in the first half.
"We were lucky to get out of jail tonight, but it's good to get a win away from home," Whitaker said.
Winger Giscard Pieters scored two second-half tries Saturday to lead the Cheetahs to a 27-26 win over the Sharks at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, South Africa.
Cheetahs flyhalf Meyer Bosman kicked a penalty for the first points of the second period before Pieters rounded Brent Russell to touch down and Bosman's conversion drew the teams level at 20-20 with a half hour to play.
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