Skipper Bernard Foley yesterday stole a 50m intercept try, allowing the New South Wales Waratahs to consolidate their Australian conference lead while Jerome Kaino bade farewell to his home crowd as the Auckland Blues downed the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby.
The Waratahs trailed the Rebels by nine points with 11 minutes left before tries by Ned Hanigan and Wallabies flyhalf Foley earned them a thrilling 31-26 win in Melbourne.
The hard-fought victory increased the Waratahs’ advantage over the Rebels to four points at the top of the Australian conference with two rounds remaining to the finals.
The Rebels looked as if they would overtake the Waratahs at the top of the conference by scoring 16 unanswered points after halftime to lead 26-17 before the Waratahs pulled the game out of the fire.
Blindside flanker Hanigan crashed over for a try and three minutes later Foley, standing in as captain for injured Michael Hooper, intercepted a Billy Meakes pass and raced away from halfway to score under the bar.
The Waratahs had to grimly defend their line in the final stages to hold on to their lead as the Rebels threw everything at them.
“We found ourselves in a real grind tonight, it was really pleasing that the guys fought their way out of it, the Rebels really showed up and challenged us,” Foley said.
In Auckland, the Blues won 39-15, but it was the four yellow cards handed out during the game that became the center of attention.
South African referee Egon Seconds dished out two cards against the Reds in the space of two minutes in the first half that proved to be the defining period of the game. He then sent two Blues players off in the second half.
Long-time Blues and All Blacks enforcer Kaino was making his last appearance at Eden Park before heading to France at the end of the season to join Toulouse and was handed the captaincy when Augustine Pulu failed a fitness test before the game.
“This season has been tough. We’ve come close to it at times at home, but I’m stoked for our fans and especially the boys to get a result at home,” he said. “Maybe on reflection I’ll look back and think about all the memories, but tonight was an awesome result.”
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
RSS