Defending champions Canterbury Crusaders returned to familiar form on Saturday, beating the Queensland Reds 33-22 in a Super 14 rugby match.
After a first-round loss to the Auckland Blues, flyhalf Steve Brett scored a try and kicked four conversions to lift the Crusaders to victory.
In another early match on Saturday, Auckland flyhalf Isa Nacewa scored a try and kicked two conversions and a penalty to lead the Blues to a 17-15 win over the ACT Brumbies at Canberra.
At half-time, the Brumbies led 9-7 on Julien Huxley’s three penalties in five attempts, including one from 48m. Nacewa scored the only try of the first half in the eighth minute. The match was played in steady rain and lightning throughout the first half.
In South Africa, the Bulls beat the Cheetahs 24-20 in Pretoria and the Lions downed New Zealand side Otago Highlanders 11-6 in Johannesburg.
Playing as a stand-in for All Blacks pivot Daniel Carter, Brett scored the first of the Crusaders’ five tries and had a hand in at least three others.
”We’re a very proud team. Last week’s loss dealt us a bit of a blow which dented our pride, but we worked hard this week for a bit of a lift,” Crusaders captain Corey Flynn said.
The Reds — first-round winners over the Wellington Hurricanes — led 22-21 entering the last quarter and seemed poised for an upset win. But the Crusaders scored two late tries to grab a four-try bonus point and deny Queensland a point for a loss by fewer than seven points.
League convert Clinton Schifcofske kicked four penalties from six attempts to keep the Reds in the match, but the visitors eventually buckled under the Crusaders’ late pressure.
”One of the big disappointments in life is ‘could have been’, and this match was definitely a ‘could have been’,” said Reds captain John Rowe. ”We put ourselves in the game, and with 20 minutes to go we were definitely in with a chance, but all credit to the Crusaders; they were too strong in the end.”
Schifcofske’s fourth penalty gave Queensland a 22-21 lead, but late tries to Scott Hamilton and Brent Ward put the Crusaders in front and extinguished the Reds’ hope of a consolation bonus point.
The Bulls outscored the Cheetahs by three tries to two to win 24-20. Cheetahs centre Meyer Bosman kicked two penalty goals at the Loftus Versfeld stadium before the Bulls’ tight five began to take a grip on play.
Front-rower Wessel Roux, Springbok wing Bryan Habana and replacement forward Jaco Engelsdarted touched down to earn victory, but prop CJ van der Linde and then Eddie Fredericks got tries to earn the Cheetahs a bonus point that lifted them to fourth in the standings.
Wylie Human scored a first-half try to help the Lions beat the Highlanders 11-6, gathering a speculative chip from Highlander winger Greg Zampach and breaking free to score unchallenged.
Replacement centre Charlie Hore scored a penalty in the 69th to put the Highlanders within reach and earn a bonus point that moved his team to five points in the standings, the same as the third-place Western Force.
The Bulls were 12th with four points, the same as the 11th-placed Lions. — Sapa-AP