The Wellington Hurricanes yesterday stunned the Canterbury Crusaders 35-10 in Christchurch to seal top spot in the New Zealand conference and vital home advantage in the Super Rugby playoffs.
The Waikato Chiefs had the chance to dislodge the Hurricanes in the late match in Dunedin, but were held off by the champion Otago Highlanders in a 25-15 thriller.
The Hurricanes, who finished the regular season with 53 points, will have to wait to find out their quarter-final opponents, with the Lions’ final match against the Jaguares having playoffs implications.
Photo AFP
The Johannesburg team, on 52 points, have already sealed a home quarter-final, but a win in Buenos Aires later yesterday could see them leapfrog the Hurricanes at the top of the table.
The Highlanders, who finished second in the New Zealand conference, spared themselves a long trip to South Africa, but are set to play their quarter-final away to the ACT Brumbies.
The Canberra side yesterday defeated the lowly Western Force 24-10 at home to win the Australian conference, striking the New South Wales Waratahs out of playoffs contention.
The Chiefs ended up the biggest losers of the night, their defeat condemning them to a trip to Cape Town to take on the third-placed Stormers.
The Crusaders will play either the Hurricanes or the Lions, both match-ups presenting a daunting road trip.
The Hurricanes, however, earned the right to celebrate, claiming a brilliant win at the Crusaders’ Christchurch stronghold to emerge top of the competition’s toughest conference.
The five-try victory, set up by a flyhalf masterclass from All Black Beauden Barrett, threw the pressure back onto the Chiefs, who battled hard against a fired-up Highlanders team, but conceded in the final minutes.
Barrett put the icing on the Hurricanes’ win by converting his own try after the final siren to complete a perfect night with the boot.
Jason Woodward, TJ Perenara and Willis Halaholo also crossed with Callum Gibbins scoring a fourth try in the 71st minute to seal a bonus point that would ultimately prove decisive.
The Highlanders had a chance to leapfrog the Hurricanes at the top of the conference with a bonus point win of their own, but were contained by a Chiefs defense that was under siege for much of the night under the closed roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Flyhalf Lima Sopoaga scored a 73rd minute try to seal the win and added 10 points with his boot.
The Chiefs began brightly with an early try to winger Toni Pulu and held a 7-5 lead at halftime, but they lost all momentum when blindside flanker Tom Sanders was given a yellow card for a dangerous tackle in the 54th minute.
The Highlanders piled on 10 points during Sanders’ spell in the sin-bin, with replacement flanker Dan Pryor completing a breathtaking team try in the left corner.
Lachlan Boshier came off the bench to rally the Chiefs with a 68th minute try in the right corner, but five minutes later Sopoaga swooped on a loose ball knocked from center Matt Faddes’ grasp in a tackle on the try-line.
After a lengthy video review, Sopoaga’s try was confirmed, crushing the Chiefs’ hopes of a home playoff and sending Dunedin fans into raptures. On Friday, South Africa’s Sharks qualified for the quarter-finals after a six-try 40-29 romp against Japan’s Sunwolves.
The home side led 21-19 at the break, but pulled away in the second period as they punished the Sunwolves with their quick backs.
The Melbourne Rebels’ back-rower Sean McMahon scored two tries and set up a third to help his team to a 31-28 victory over the Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
The Rebels raced to a 24-7 halftime lead, but the Reds staged a superb recovery courtesy of two gallant tries from Liam Gill even though it was not enough in the end.
Meanwhile, the New South Wales Waratahs emerged from their 34-28 loss from the Auckland Blues in Eden Park on Friday with a bonus point, that kept their slim playoffs hopes alive until the
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