The Wellington Hurricanes maintained their unbeaten Super 14 record, but were flattered by the scoreline as they pieced together an unconvincing 33-18 win over the Golden Lions yesterday.
Although they secured a second consecutive bonus point victory, the ‘Canes were only a shadow of the side that produced an overpowering finish last week to demolish the Western Force.
After holding a 14-point lead at the break, they let the Lions back into contention at 21-15, before David Smith’s bonus-point try with 12 minutes to play.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Lions slipped to their third loss, but they took heart from the visible improvement in the defense a week after leaking nine tries in the 65-72 loss to the Chiefs.
They nullified the potent Hurricanes back-line and Smith’s late try was the only one by the outside backs.
In the first half, the Hurricanes outscored the Lions two tries to one and bolstered by three Willie Ripia penalties they turned with a handy 21-7 lead.
Michael Paterson scored first, finishing off a move that he also started by stealing a Lions’ lineout throw, and Piri Weepu scored the second, with Willie Ripia adding a conversion and three penalties.
Earl Rose was off-line with two penalty attempts, but successfully converted Derick Minnie’s try for the Lions only points in the first 40 minutes.
The tone of the game changed immediately after the break, however, when Todd Clever exploited a lazy Hurricanes defense to score wide out and Rose added a penalty soon after to close the gap to six points.
With the possibility of an upset on the cards, Andrew Hore produced a solo captain’s try to take the initiative away from the Lions.
He received the ball 40m out and, from a standing start, bullocked his way through three tackles before selling Rose a perfect dummy to gallop over the line.
Rose struck another penalty for the Lions, before All Blacks centers Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith combined to open up the Lions backs and send Smith in for his try.
■BLUES 27, REDS 18
AFP, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
The Auckland Blues mastered wet conditions yesterday to claim a bonus-point Super 14 win over the Queensland Reds.
The Blues made it two wins on the trot with a four-tries-to-two victory over the Reds, who had hammered seven-time Super rugby champions Canterbury Crusaders 41-20 the previous weekend.
Auckland controlled possession and territory in driving rain to fight back from a 13-8 deficit to claim their first win over the Reds at Queensland’s Ballymore ground in six visits.
The Reds got off to a flyer when Wallaby scrumhalf Will Genia charged down a kick and sprinted 50m to score in the second minute.
Center Rene Ranger scored a powerful try for the Blues in the 32nd minute, bumping off up to six tackles to bulldoze his way over in the corner.
Quade Cooper’s kicking kept the Reds in front at halftime, but Auckland dominated early in the second half and ground out a 20-13 lead inside 12 minutes of the restart.
Lock Anthony Boric ploughed over for a try off a series of pick and drives from the Auckland forwards, and scrumhalf Alby Mathewson darted through for a soft try off a lineout win to open a seven-point gap.
Queensland, who lost Wallaby back Peter Hynes with a suspected broken wrist early in the second half, hit back, however, with a pushover try from prop Laurie Weeks in the 63rd minute to trail 20-18.
The Reds had their chances to retrieve the lead through a missed penalty attempt by Cooper and a try not grounded by replacement Will Chambers, before the Blues made the game safe in the final minute.
From a turnover, winger Rudi Wulf dived over in the corner and replacement Lachie Munro landed the conversion to ensure that the Reds could not come back in the final moments.
■CHIEFS 37, FORCE 19
AFP, PERTH, AUSTRALIA
New Zealand’s Waikato Chiefs remained unbeaten with a win over the Western Force in their Super 14 clash at ME Bank Stadium yesterday.
There was no repeat of the Chiefs’ nine-try haul last weekend, but they still managed a bonus point despite having to wait until midway through the second half to shake off the injury-ravaged, but determined Force.
In the end, last year’s beaten finalists were able to capitalize on the home side’s errors to make it three wins from as many matches this season.
The Chiefs’ first two tries both came from lineout turnovers by the Force, who stayed in touch for most of the match through penalties.
Although the Force pressed the Chiefs’ line a couple of times early in the first half, Waikato’s opening try came in the 22nd minute when a Brendon Leonard chip-kick set up an easy try for Hika Elliot.
A penalty right on halftime enabled the Force to only be down 13-6 at the break.
When young James O’Connor, who was impressive in his first game at flyhalf, kicked two penalties to open the second half, the gap closed to 13-12.
A Stephen Donald penalty steadied the Chiefs, however, before Lelia Masaga, in his first game of the season, charged over out wide to open the gap.
The Chiefs put the result beyond doubt when Colin Bourke bustled over after a 5m scrum in the 66th minute and Donald’s kick was true.
Ryan Cross scored a late consolation try for the Force, but Tim Nanai-Williams then earned a bonus point for the Chiefs by scoring their fourth try in the dying minutes.
■BRUMBIES 19, STORMERS 17
AFP, CAPE TOWN
A missed conversion with the last kick of the match by Stormers fullback Joe Pietersen gave the ACT Brumbies a 19-17 win over the Western Stormers in a Super 14 match at Newlands on Friday.
The Brumbies seemed to have made sure of the win when veteran flank George Smith scored the first try of the match three minutes from time after he intercepted a pass from Stormers prop Brok Harris.
Smith scored under the posts and Matt Giteau’s conversion gave the Brumbies a 19-12 lead, but the Stormers came back strongly from the kick-off and flank Pieter Louw burst around the side of a maul to score 6m in from touch.
Pietersen, who had landed four out of five penalty goal attempts, hooked the conversion effort, that would have leveled the scores.
The upset win by the Australian visitors confirmed them as a hoodoo side for the Stormers. It was their 10th win in 13 matches against the Cape team, with just two losses and one draw.
“It wasn’t a pretty performance,” Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles said. “We had to work hard against an in-form team.”
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