The Wellington Hurricanes put a week of internal strife behind them to score two late tries to down the Western Stormers and stay in the hunt after Super 14 leaders and tournament favourites Canterbury Crusaders this weekend.
The Hurricanes got up in the last five minutes to down the Stormers 23-19 in Cape Town on Saturday to lie two points behind the Crusaders after five rounds of the southern-hemisphere provincial tournament.
Centre Tane Tu’ipulotu went over in one corner with five minutes left at Newlands and wing Hosea Gear scored on the other side of the field just 60 seconds from full-time.
Hurricane players Jerry Collins and Lome Fa’atau came to blows in a Bloemfontein nightclub last weekend, but coach Colin Cooper fielded the pair for the Stormers’ game.
Canterbury backed up from their physical match with Auckland to keep their unbeaten run alive with another bruising 25-19 win over the Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday.
The five-time Super rugby champions spent much of the final 10 minutes desperately defending their lead as the Chiefs bombarded their line in search of victory.
Australia’s ACT Brumbies fought back from a first-half deficit to remain unbeaten in this campaign with a tense 35-30 win over South Africa’s Coastal Sharks in Canberra on Saturday.
The Brumbies scored two tries in each half to secure their first bonus point of the season and hold on to their third placing.
The New South Wales Waratahs are one point behind the Brumbies in fourth spot after hammering South Africa’s Golden Cats with seven tries in a record 50-3 romp in Sydney on Friday.
The well-drilled Sydney franchise were on a different level to the bereft Cats, clinching a scoring bonus point with their fourth try seven minutes before half-time.
The Northern Bulls are South Africa’s best-performing team and climbed to fifth after an emphatic 23-16 win over the Otago Highlanders in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Bulls, who welcomed back Springboks Victor Matfield and Gary Botha, scored two tries to Otago’s one to stay on course for the semifinals after the scores were locked at 13-13 at half-time.
The Queensland Reds notched a 29-18 comeback victory over Western Force in Brisbane Saturday, denying the Australian newcomers their first-ever Super 14 victory.
The Reds scored 26 unanswered points after trailing 18-3 to collect their first win of the season in a scuffle-packed grudge match with the Force, who have nine former Reds on their roster.
The Auckland Blues and South Africa’s Central Cheetahs had the weekend off. — Sapa-AFP