The Fijian Drua yesterday qualified for the Super Rugby Pacific quarter-finals for the second consecutive year after scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Melbourne Rebels 40-19 in the last round of the regular season.
The win clinched seventh place for the Drua on 26 points and kept seven-time defending champions the Canterbury Crusaders (ninth, 24 points) out of the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
The Crusaders temporarily moved up to eighth place after beating Moana Pasifika (11th, 18 points) 43-10 on Friday for their fourth win of the season, but the Drua leap-frogged them and the Rebels (eighth, 26 points) to move into seventh given a better regular-season wins record. They won six regular-season matches to the Rebels’ five.
Photo: AFP
The Rebels enter the playoffs for the first time in their 14-year history.
However, it is a somber achievement after Rugby Australia on Thursday announced that it would not renew the Rebels’ license to play in Super Rugby Pacific next season because of financial instability.
Yesterday’s match was the Rebels last regular-season match in Super Rugby and the club will cease to exist as soon as their playoff run ends.
Photo: AFP
The Rebels led 14-5 after a penalty try and a try to winger Andrew Kellaway in the 12th and 13th minutes. Drua scrumhalf Frank Lomani, returning from a six-week suspension for elbowing a Rebels player when the teams met earlier in the season, kicked the ball out of the back of the Rebels’ scrum as they attempted a pushover try.
He did so from an offside position, receiving a yellow card and conceding a penalty try.
The Drua rallied with a try to Ilaisa Droasese to make the score 14-12 before the Rebels went ahead 19-12 with a try to lock Josh Canham.
Iosefo Masi scored for the Drua to level the score at 19-19 at halftime. The Drua then rocked the Rebels with three quick tries at the start of the second half to build a 40-19 lead.
Selestino Ravutaumada scored the first immediately after the restart, winger Waqa Nalaga scored his second of the match after the opening the scoring in the seventh minute and Lomani atoned with a try in the 52nd minute.
Masi had a giant influence on the match for his ability to break tackles and make meters after the collision, which helped to set up tries for his outside backs.
The Crusaders needed the Rebels to beat or draw with the Drua to progress to the playoffs themselves.
The club issued a statement announcing a review of the season as soon as the match in Fiji ended and with it the Crusaders’ hopes.
“Our review is focused on performance and ensures we don’t make any rash decisions,” the statement from Crusaders chief executive officer Colin Mainsbridge said.
“We want the team and organization to operate to the standard we expect and every opportunity to improve is looked at,” he said.
Later yesterday, the Wellington Hurricanes (56 points) were confirmed as the top qualifiers for the playoffs after the second-placed Blues (55 points) were involved in a dramatic finish to the match in Auckland, where the hosts needed a bonus-point win over the Waikato Chiefs (fourth, 43 points) to claim the top spot.
The Blues were on course to achieve that until Chiefs replacement back Josh Ioane crossed for a try in the final minute, denying the Blues a bonus point in their 31-17 victory.
Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu felt let down by the outcome after his side dominated the contest, boosted by two tries by in-form loose forward Hoskins Sotutu.
“We can be happy with the win, but our goal was to win with a bonus point,” Tuipulotu said. “Unfortunately we didn’t do that, so that’s very disappointing for us — it’s not enough to just play in patches.”
Earlier, winger Salesi Rayasi crossed for a hat-trick as the Hurricanes brushed past the Otago Highlanders (sixth, 28 points) 41-14 in Wellington.
The quarter-finals schedule among the top eight teams next week has the Hurricanes at home to the Rebels, while the Blues are to host the Drua.
The third-placed ACT Brumbies (third, 52 points) — who beat the Western Force (10th, 20 points) 24-19 in yesterday’s late game — face the Highlanders in Canberra and the Chiefs are to play the Queensland Reds (fifth, 40 points) in Hamilton.
The Reds downed the NSW Waratahs (12th and last, 13 points) 27-26 on Friday.
Additional reporting by AFP and staff writer
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS