Once again this week the points table had a reshuffle, with the Bulls swapping position with the Canes who have slipped from first to third. The Chiefs stay in second place after beating the Hurricanes while the Crusaders have moved into the top four for the first time this season, moving from sixth place to fourth with their bonus point win over the Reds. Meanwhile the Highlanders lost their fourth successive game going down to the Lions in Johannesburg, as the Blues were outmuscled by the Brumbies in Canberra.

Crusaders v Reds (32-12)

The Crusaders comprehensively beat an injury-ravaged Reds side to take maximum points and keep the hopes of maintaining their title alive as they moved into the top four. It wasn’t the greatest night to play running rugby in Christchurch, with a chilly southerly bringing antartic air to the city but thankfully the rain held off to allow the Crusaders to run in five tries to two, and for the crowd to farewell Leon MacDonald who was making in all probability his final appearance at AMI Stadium before heading off to Japan.

Hard-working No 8 Thomas Waldrom scored the first try of the evening, crashing over the line from a series of rucks on the Reds goal line. A try apiece to Owen Franks and Tim Bateman, along with two connversions and a penalty from the trusty boot of Leon MacDonald saw the Crusaders go into the break 20-0.

While the Crusaders were expected to win this game, they did require a bonus point to keep their title hopes alive and thankfully it came seven minutes into the second half when Jason MacDonald scored in the corner. The fifth try went to replacement winger Sean Maitland, who has spent the better part of the season out injured and must have been relieved to finally get some game time. The Crusaders were 32-0 up and the match was essentially over.

The game lost its structure in the final quarter, with the Crusaders having emptied their bench and various injuries to the two packs leading to golden oldies scrums in the last 15 minutes, plus the strange sight of Richie McCaw playing at 1st 5 when the Crusaders ran out of backline replacements. The Reds hit back with two late tries to Ben Tapuai and Greg Holmes but that would have been little comfort such was the total domination of the Crusaders.

The Crusaders now look ahead to Saturday night when they take on the Blues in Auckland. A bonus point win will assure them of a semi-final spot, but they may be able to make it with just a win should the Chiefs beat the Brumbies and the Lions beat the Waratahs on the Friday night.

Crusaders: Waldrom, Franks, Bateman, Jason MacDonald, Maitland tries; Leon MacDonald 2 con, 1 pen.
Reds: Tapuai, Holmes tries; Cooper 1 con.

Lions v Highlanders (27-22)

The Highlanders will be shaking their heads and wondering what went wrong after blowing a 22-5 lead in the final 30 minutes of their game against the Lions. Despite a slightly slow start and conceding a try after five minutes, the Highlanders kicked into gear halfway through the second half and ran in three tries before halftime to be 19-5 up at the break.

A penalty early in the second half saw them increase their lead to 17 points, but lack of possession started to tell and the Lions given a sniff of a chance will always pounce. First it was their No 8 Willem Alberts who monstered his way over the line, then he set up a try for half back Jano Vermaak. With less than 10 minutes on the clock the Highlanders were starting to flounder, and when Earl Rose darted over to score the Lions fourth try the writing was on the wall as the home side grabbed a slender two point lead. Andre Pretorious then landed a drop goal to put them five ahead and all pressure was now on the Highlanders.

The Highlanders did manage to regroup and launch a comeback, but unfortunately for them the Lions defence that has been so brittle all season stood firm, as the Highlanders slipped to their fourth consecutive loss and just one point from their two-match trip to the republic.

Lions: Killian, Alberts, Vermaak, Rose tries; Pretorius 2 con, dropped goal
Highlanders: Soakai, Smith, Cowan tries; Dagg 1 pen, 2 con.

Chiefs v Hurricanes (16-8)

The match of the weekend certainly didn’t disappoint, and in front of a full house it was the Chiefs who ran out deserved victors and kept their chances of a home semi-final very much alive. Like the Crusaders, the Chiefs had just returned from South Africa and no doubt the Hurricanes were hoping that the travel factor would take its toll. But the home team looked anything but jetlagged as they put together an impressive second half effort to deny the Hurricanes any points at all from the game.

The Hurricanes got their first and only try of the game barely ten minutes into the match, when Sione Lauaki was stripped of the ball just out from his own 22. From the resulting ruck the Canes unleashed their backline and some indecision on defence by Richard Kahui who turned back infield allowed Ma’a Nonu to put David Smith in the clear as he outstripped the cover defence down the sideline and using the wet ground slid over for the try in the corner. Willy Ripia missed the difficult sideline conversion but was successful with a penalty, while for the Chiefs it was three penalty goals to Stephen Donald that saw the Chiefs go into half time with a slender one point lead.

The Chiefs scored their only try straight after the break, storming straight onto attack with pace and ferocity that put the Canes on the backfoot. Instead of clearing the ball from their own 22 the Chiefs launched an attack that was finally halted well inside the visitor’s 22. From the resulting ruck Stephen Donald decided to have a go, and fended off the last tackle from Rodney So’oialo to romp in under the posts to score. The conversion gave the Chiefs an eight point buffer and this was the way the scoreboard remained for the rest of the game.

The Hurricanes had their chances in the latter stages of the second half, with winger David Smith spilling the ball inches from the goal line to miss a try that would have given them at least a bonus point and the possiblity to win the game. Ripia also had a nightmare with the boot, missing four from five shots at goal. But in the end it was their old friend indiscipline that really cost the Hurricanes, with Donald landing three easy penalty goals, and the visiting team were probably lucky referee Bryce Lawrence wasn’t more observant at the breakdown as the penalty count could have and should have been higher.

Chiefs: Donald try; Donald 3 pen, 1 con.
Hurricanes: D. Smith try; Ripia 1 pen.

Brumbies v Blues (37-15)

The Blues started this game handily enough, and despite missing two penalty shots at goal a strong line break by Isaia Toeava allowed Rene Ranger to put Jimmy Gopperth in the clear 20m out to score the first try. Gopperth converted and also landed a penalty to see the Blues ahead 10-6 at halftime, the Brumbies only managing a drop goal and a penalty to keep in touch with the Blues. But whatever was said at halftime in the Brumbies changing shed must have hit its mark, as the home side came out scored four tries in the space of 15 minutes and effectively shut the Blues out of the game and play-offs contention.

A strong break by Stephen Hoiles was ruled held up right on the Blues’ goal line, but from the resulting scrum the Brumbies swung the ball left and Joe Rokocoko was caught too far in as Mortlock, playing on the right wing, outflanked him to score in the corner. The Brumbies scrum was starting to become their weapon of choice and tries to Francis Fainifo and Patrick Phibbs, both from attacking scrums, came in the next ten minutes.

A long pass in their own 22 by the Blues saw Tony Woodcoc
k clobbered in a huge tackle by Mortlock just as he received the ball, and despite the collision seeing Mortlock leave the field injured it still resulted in turnover ball to give Brumbies reserve hooker Huia Edmonds a try. Matt Toomua’s took over the goal kicking with Mortlock’s injury and his conversion made it 32-10 with 20 minutes left.

The Blues had a brief comeback when Rene Ranger counterattacked from a kick and put Rokocoko into the clear to score, but the conversion missed and minutes from fulltime the game was sewn up by the Brumbies with their fifth try to reserve Sitaleki Timani. Despite leaving the field injured, Stirling Mortlock moved past Andrew Mehrtens (990) as the highest points scorer in Super rugby as scored a try, two conversions and a penalty to move to 994 points.

Brumbies: Mortlock, Fainifo, Phibbs, Edmonds, Timani tries; Mortlock 1 pen, 2 con, Toomua 1 con, Toomua 1 drop goal.
Blues: Gopperth, Rokocoko tries; Gopperth 1 pen, 1 con.

In other games:

The Sharks lost to the Waratahs 12-16
The Bulls beat the Cheetahs 29-20
The Stormers beat the Force 25-24

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