April 30, 2011
A last-minute penalty by All Black playmaker Aaron Cruden secured a narrow 28-26 win for the Hurricanes over the Reds in Wellington on Saturday, denting the Queenslanders' push at the summit of the table.
Ewen McKenzie's side fought back from 22-5 down at half-time to lead 26-25 in the 79th minute, with the coach's rotation policy set to be brought into focus in the aftermath.
The Reds were on the board early as Scott Higginbotham crashed over in the opening minute, with Tasesa Levave biting back 10 minutes later. As half-time approached the hosts grabbed a stranglehold on the game, with Cruden sparking a blitz of tries with a solo score.
Fullback Andre Taylor then started and ended a move with five points in the corner and tight-head Neemia Tialata powered over out wide to secure a big cushion at the break. Quade Cooper and Luke Morahan combined to get the Reds back into the game in the second period, Morahan dotting down an inch-perfect cross kick for his first try and capitalising on a Cooper inside flick for another.
A Cooper penalty on 71 minutes gave the Reds the lead but they failed to safeguard possession, a Hosea Gear break setting up Cruden to win it with his second penalty of the half.
The Crusaders came from behind to beat the Western Force 42-30 and deny them a famous victory in Perth on Saturday. The Force were in sight of the win as they led 30-25 going into the final 20 minutes. But Corey Flynn and Kahn Fotuali'I crossed for the Crusaders and fly-half Matt Berquist converted both tries as well as adding a late penalty to complete the comeback.
The visitors had eased into a 15-3 lead early on following two tries from fullback Israel Dagg but the Force rallied with Cameron Shepherd scoring two tries and fly-half Willie Ripia also touching down. And the boot of James O'Connor ensured that the Force were leading into the final 20 minutes despite a try from Sonny Bill Williams.
Richie McCaw's comeback for the Crusaders was marred by a second-half yellow card but he returned to last until three minutes from the end, while the Force's David Pocock played the full game on his comeback from injury.
The Waratahs beat the Melbourne Rebels 28-9 at the Sydney Football Stadium to maintain the pressure on the Reds.
Hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau barged over in the 14th minute with Kurtley Beale converting to put the hosts ahead. The Waratahs and Wallabies fullback added a further three penalties to keep the hosts in front while Julian Huxley landed three penalties for the Rebels.
Danny Cipriani entered the fray in the 55th minute, after being dropped to the bench following a poor defensive display against the Blues the previous week. But the England international had little influence as the Waratahs sealed the win with late tries from flanker David Dennis and lock Dean Mumm.
There was further positive news for the Waratahs, and Wallabies, as playmaker Berrick Barnes played 74 minutes on his return from injury and impressed throughout.
On Friday, the Blues brought the Highlanders down to earth after last weekend's win over the Crusaders by sneaking a 15-10 victory at Carisbrook, moving top overall.
Five penalties from the boot of former All Blacks midfielder Luke McAlister secured the Blues' sixth win on the bounce, one dedicated at fulltime to lock Kurtis Haiu, who was this week diagnosed with cancer.
The home side trailed 9-0 at the break and began the second-half with 14 men following the sin-binning of lock Jarrad Hoeata for a breakdown offence, but they nevertheless found an attacking spark to score the game's only try.
A midfield break by replacement centre Matt Saunders laid the platform and after multiple infringements by the Blues close to their line, Robbie Robinson crashed across the whitewash. He added the conversion and a penalty before the 50 minute mark, but two kicks by McAlister - who was forced off before the hooter with an ankle problem - secured the win and top spot on the overall log for Pat Lam's Blues.
Sias Ebersohn kicked 21 points as the Cheetahs held off the Brumbies in a thrilling 47-36 contest at the Free State Stadium. With both sides securing their four-try bonus points before the half-time interval, it was the boot of fly-half Ebersohn that helped his side over the line after the Brumbies had fought back from 32-7 down.
The Cheetahs had raced ahead through two tries from Sarel Pretorius and one apiece from Coenraad Oosthuizen and WP Nel, as well as two drop goals from Riaan Viljoen and the place kicking of Ebersohn. The Brumbies, who announced that former South Africa coach Jake White would be taking over at the struggling franchise, reduced the deficit with tries from Ben Alexander, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Francis Fainifo and Michael Hooper - all before the break.
Replacement Robbie Coleman scored the solitary try of the second half, and Matt Giteau continued to kick goals for the visitors, but Ebersohn's boot kept the Brumbies at bay.
No comments:
Post a Comment