MONDAY, 12.00NOON:
THE Golden Cats lost their eighth successive match in the Super-12 tournament against a fired-up Queensland Reds at Ellis Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Cats relinquished a 16-5 half-time lead to lose 20-16, after going off the boil in the second half.
The Cats played well in the first half, however, but mistakes at critical times led to their downfall. The Reds took the lead for the first time in the 31st minute of the second half, when John Eales galloped over after prop Dan Crowley latched onto a loose ball following a handling error from Cats centre Edrich Lubbe.
Reds winger Ben Tune scored two tries in the match, and replacement flyhalf Shane Drahm sealed the match for the Reds when he went over under the posts.
The Cats’ only try was scored by eighth man AJ Venter.
The Northern Bulls pulled out all the stops to beat the Coastal Sharks 12-8 in their Super-12 match played at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Bulls tackled superbly and the Sharks could find no way through. The loss to the Bulls seriously damaged the Sharks’ chances of a home semifinal, but they were the masters of their own downfall, being butterfingered when it counted most.
Andre Joubert couldn’t hold on to a pass from skipper Gary Teichmann that would have resulted in a sure try, while Jeremy Thompson fluffed the ball with the tryline winking.
The Chiefs beat the Western Stormers 26-7 at the International Stadium in Rotorua.
Auckland beat the Australian Capital Territories Brumbies 27-24 in Canberra on Saturday. Fijian winger Joeli Vidiri scored twice in the rematch of last season’s final.
The Otago Highlanders lost 23-22 to the New South Wales Waratahs in Dunedin.