Two tries in three minutes helped the Sharks book their ticket to the Super Rugby semi-finals with a victory over the Highlanders on Saturday.
The Crusaders beat the Highlanders 34-8 to win the New Zealand conference in Super Rugby.
A fast-flagging Otago Highlanders have escaped with the narrowest of victories to get back on track with a 23-22 victory over the Golden Lions.
The Bulls are on the cusp of securing a home semifinal in Vodacom Super Rugby after beating the Highlanders 35-18.
Colin Slade has scored a second-half try among 15 points as the Highlanders broke an eight-match losing run with a 25-22 win over the Sharks.
Sharks flyhalf Patrick Lambie surpassed 300 points in Super Rugby as he scored all his team’s points in their 28-16 victory against the Highlanders.
Tom Carter’s hat-trick kept the Waratahs in line for a Super Rugby play-off spot, beating the Highlanders 33-7 in Sydney.
The Golden Lions have not been contacted by New Zealand authorities about an alleged sexual assault by one of their players, the club’s union says.
Highlanders winger Siale Piutau has been cited for striking Lions’ Michael Rhodes twice in the head after the flanker pulled him out of ruck.
The Bulls, refreshed from last week’s bye, look set to keep the heat on their Super 14 title chasers when they host the Highlanders on Saturday.
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/ 27 February 2010
Fullback Israel Dagg kicked 14 points to help the Highlanders notch their first Super 14 away win in two years with a 31-24 win over the Cheetahs.
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/ 27 February 2009
Australia flanker Phil Waugh celebrated his 100th Super 14 appearance by leading the Waratahs to a 34-16 win over the Highlanders on Friday.
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/ 20 February 2009
The Hurricanes scored two tries in the final five minutes to come from behind to beat the Highlanders 22-17 in a Super 14 rugby clash on Friday.
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/ 13 February 2009
Christian Lealiifano kicked a last-minute drop to hand the Brumbies a 33-31 win over the Highlanders in a thrilling start to the Super 14 on Friday.
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/ 11 February 2009
Super 14 will be on the cusp of change when its fourth year begins on Friday, inflaming tension over audience share with summer sports.
Injuries, coaching concerns and travel fatigue loom as significant factors in the Super 14 rugby semifinals when the Crusaders, Waratahs, Sharks and Hurricanes front up on Saturday. Competition leaders the Crusaders are at home to the Hurricanes in the first knock-out match, followed by the second-placed Waratahs hosting the Sharks in Sydney.
The Otago Highlanders gave hope to prospective play-off opponents of the Canterbury Crusaders when they beat the league leaders 26-14 in Super 14 rugby on Saturday. The 12th-place Highlanders scored three tries to one in a late-season upset to finish a mediocre year on a high note.
The Otago Highlanders recovered from 14-11 behind at halftime to beat South Africa’s Cheetahs for only their second win this season. It was another close defeat in a frustrating season for captain Juan Smith and his Bloemfontein men who themselves have won just once this season and are second-bottom of the table.
South Africa’s Coastal Sharks face a moment of truth against the toughest team in rugby’s Super 14 when they put their chances of a home play-off on the line against the Canterbury Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday. The Sharks are feeling the effects of five demanding weeks on the road in Australia and New Zealand.
The Stormers picked up two second-half tries to keep their hopes of reaching the Super 14 semifinals alive with a 26-16 victory over the Otago Highlanders on Saturday. Hooker Tiaan Liebenberg and his replacement Schalk Brits scored in the space of 10 minutes to break open a game that was deadlocked 9-9 at halftime.
Leaders Canterbury Crusaders and the Sharks will be under extra scrutiny this weekend about how they react to last week’s first defeats in rugby’s Super 14 series. The moody Auckland Blues are bracing for a backlash from the chastened Crusaders, whose unbeaten eight-match record was unceremoniously ended by the Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton.
Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez could be heading to Europe as early as next month if he decides to accept one of four offers he has received. The Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Sondag reported that Du Preez is currently considering four offers and has not ruled out the option of an imminent move after the Super 14.
The Bulls turned around last week’s shocking form to beat the Otago Highlanders 47-17 in the Super 14 on Saturday. Having lost 50-22 last week to the Wellington Hurricanes, the Bulls scored six tries to two against Otago at Loftus Versfeld, with fullback Zane Kirchner and winger Akona Ndungane each collecting two.
The coaches of South Africa’s only two sides that still have a chance of making the Super 14 semifinals were upbeat for totally contrasting reasons after their teams’ wins over the weekend. While Sharks coach Dick Muir thought his charges were at last starting to put things together at the back, Rassie Erasmus was impressed with his Stormers forwards.
South Africa’s Sharks overcame an 11-point deficit after 20 minutes to beat the Otago Highlanders 19-17 Friday and maintain their unbeaten record through nine rounds of rugby’s Super 14. Twelfth-placed Otago threatened one of the bigger upsets of the season when they scored early tries to lead the second-placed Sharks 14-3.
The Canterbury Crusaders will field a largely second-string line-up against bottom team the Lions as they look to extend their six-point lead at the top of rugby’s Super 14 series this weekend. The six-time champions and the team to beat for this year’s southern hemisphere provincial crown are coming off a bye last weekend.
The Sharks’ reserve forward, Epi Taione, has been suspended for six weeks for headbutting a Wellington Hurricanes player in their Super 14 rugby clash on the weekend. Taione was sent off by referee Paul Marks for headbutting Hurricanes forward Jeremy Thrush in a maul during the Wellington match, which ended in a 13-13 draw.
Lions coach Eugene Eloff has had enough of his side’s near-wins in the Super 14, in which they have only one win and a draw from seven outings. ”I’m fed up with saying that this was another match we should have won,” Eloff said after Friday’s defeat to the Highlanders, who were bottom of the log before their 29-20 win over the Lions.
The Otago Highlanders held off a brave fightback from the Lions to claim their first Super 14 win of the season, 29-20 in Dunedin on Friday. The New Zealanders looked on course for a comfortable victory when they scored their third try just after half-time to extend their lead to 21-3, but the South African side hit back with two quick tries.
Waikato wing Lelia Masaga scored twice as the Chiefs outplayed Otago Highlanders 39-24 in an all-New Zealand Super 14 clash in Hamilton on Saturday. Masaga scored either side of halftime as the Chiefs piled on six tries to secure a bonus point and remain in the top half of the standings midway through the season.
Australia’s Western Force piled on 16 unanswered points in the last quarter to beat New Zealand’s Otago Highlanders 36-28 in a Super 14 match at Queenstown on Saturday. The Force trailed 28-20 with just 14 minutes to go but scored a late converted try and booted three penalties to cement their place in the top four.
Six-time champions the Canterbury Crusaders have boosted their team for an anticipated tough battle with the New South Wales Waratahs in this weekend’s feature Super 14 rugby clash in Christchurch. The Crusaders have the opportunity to open up a potential eight-point gap at the top with a bonus-point victory over the Waratahs on Friday.