Super 14 wrap: Round 8
2006-04-01 21:53
Cape Town - South Africa's two main semi-final contenders have both crashed to demoralising defeats on Australasian soil in Round Eight of the Super 14.
The Bulls, who won in Perth last week, could not continue their momentum against the Blues at Eden Park.
The Pretoria side's dismal record of having not won in Auckland over the previous decade of Super rugby was stretched to 11 years on Friday morning.
The home side, who were languishing in 11th place on the log before the Bulls match, delivered a much-improved performance to round off a 30-17 victory.
In a stop-start affair in Sydney, the Waratahs entrenched their position at the top of the table with a convincing 26-3 win over the Cheetahs.
The Currie Champions showed great commitment in the tackle, but unfortunately ran out of steam towards the end for the home side to run in two easy tries.
It was therefore left to the Stormers and the Sharks to lift the deflated spirits.
Nine tries at Kings Park
The two coastal teams did not disappoint as both achieved morale-boosting victories.
The Stormers were forced to battle until the very end to clinch a tight 26-25 victory at Subaico Oval in Perth.
Coach Kobus van der Merwe was delighted with his team's second win of the competition.
While the Force players were distraught at losing a match they dominated for such long periods, the Super 14 rookies have the consolation of celebrating their first ever point - courtesy of losing by seven points or less.
The Sharks and the Reds treated the Kings Park fans to a try feast in Durban on Saturday evening.
The hosts ran in five tries, while the Queenslanders responded with four of their own for a grand total of nine in the match.
This was in huge contrast to when these two teams last met in Durban.
On that occasion, the Reds edged the home side 6-5 in arguably the worst match in Super 12 history.
The one extra try by the Sharks and a Tony Brown penalty was what separated the two sides as Dick Muir's team collected five points for their 36-28 victory.
The two New Zealand derbies were both evenly-contested affairs with the Crusaders keeping their 100 percent record intact with a 20-11 away victory over the Hurricanes.
The Chiefs edged the Highlanders 16-13 in Hamilton.
All the results:
Blues 30-17 Bulls
Waratahs 26-3 Cheetahs
Force 25-26 Stormers
Hurricanes 11-20 Crusaders
Chiefs 16-13 Highlanders
Sharks 38-26 Reds
Brumbies and Cats have a bye
- AP