The Sharks and Stormers remained unbeaten in rugby’s Super 15, though neither won with authority in a fourth round of mainly close games.
The Sharks struggled to a 34-32 win over newcomers the Melbourne Rebels, giving up four tries to blemish a previously clean sheet in defense, while the Stormers kicked six penalties to beat the unbeaten Otago Highlanders 18-6.
Winger Sean Maitland scored four tries, tying the tournament record, as the Canterbury Crusaders dumped the ACT Brumbies 52-10 for their second straight win. The Crusaders produced the only blowout in a round in which one match was drawn and three decided by five points or less.
South Africa’s Lions beat compatriots the Cheetahs 25-22 and the Wellington Hurricanes nipped the Waikato Chiefs 29-26 for their first wins of the season. Replacement flyhalf Stephen Brett kicked a penalty after the final hooter to give the Auckland Blues a 22-22 draw with the Western Force in Perth.
The Sharks posted back-to-back wins in Australia for the first time, following up a 39-12 third-round win over the Force with a narrow win over the Rebels from which they also took a second straight four-try bonus point.
The win left the Durban-based team at the top of the standings as it moves into the next stage of a four-match road trip, matches in New Zealand against the Chiefs and Crusaders.
The Rebels claimed their first four-try bonus point in the Super 15 and a further point for a loss by less than seven points, surprising the Sharks with their sustained performance.
“I knew they would come and play well,” Sharks coach John Plumtree said. “But I didn’t think they would sustain it like that. They played with real intensity for 80 minutes.”
The Rebels trailed 13-3 after 25 minutes but rallied with tries to Cooper Vuna, Julian Huxley and former England flyhalf Danny Cipriani to lead 25-13 in the first minute of the second half.
The Sharks then retrieved the lead with tries to Lwazi Mvovo, Ryan Kankowski and Meyer Bosman, holding out Melbourne which finished with a late try to Jarrod Saffey.
“I’m really happy to get the two points,” Rebels coach Rod Macqueen said. “But I’m not happy about losing, I want to make that very clear.”
The loss was made more costly for Melbourne by a shoulder injury to Mark Gerrard which is likely to sideline the Wallabies fullback for a month.
For the second week in a row, the Stormers won a match in which all points came from penalties. Flyhalf Peter Grant kicked six goals to keep last year’s finalists unbeaten through three games and to end the Highlanders’ three-match winning run.
“We are still a work in progress,” Stormers captain Jean de Villiers said. “The attitude showed and that’s not something that can be coached.”
Maitland became the ninth player to score four tries in a Super rugby match as the Crusaders crushed the Brumbies at Nelson. All Blacks flyhalf Daniel Carter added 20 points from four conversions and four penalties.
Maitland said he was able to exploit the work of Crusaders midfielders Sonny Bill Williams and Robbie Fruean, who created havoc in the Brumbies’ defense.
“You can see the problems they are causing opposition defences,” Maitland said. “It creates huge opportunities for blokes like me. I need to be there when they make line breaks, on their shoulder sniffing out opportunities.”
The Hurricanes overcame a 22-day layoff to beat the Chiefs 29-26, rallying from 18-10 down just after halftime. After a first-round loss to the Highlanders, Wellington’s match against the Crusaders was canceled in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake and it had a bye last week.
The effect of the layoff was obvious in its shaky and error-ridden performance. Fortunately for the Hurricanes, the Chiefs also produced an error-strewn game and the match served only to suggest neither team is a serious threat.
Auckland rallied from 10 points down with three minutes remaining to snatch a draw with the Force with Brett’s penalty after the fulltime siren.
“I’m pretty gutted to be honest,” Force coach Richard Graham said. “I thought we worked really well there for 80 minutes.”
Blues coach Pat Lam said his team was lucky to earn a draw.
“They really got into us,” he said. “We made too many errors. We put ourselves under pressure and we know we’re fortunate to get a draw out of that game.”
The Lions snapped a record run of 17 straight defeats, including all 13 matches last season, holding their nerve to beat the Cheetahs, who remain winless through four matches.
“It’s been a while,” Lions captain Franco van der Merwe said. “But we knew in the back of our minds that it was eventually going to come. Hopefully, this is the first of many.” – Sapa-AP