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The Auckland Blues took the lead in Super 15 rugby after 11 rounds with their sixth straight straight win while the Queensland Reds dropped from the top of the table when their record seven-match winning streak ended.
The Blues relied on penalties from flyhalf Luke McAlister to beat the Otago Highlanders 15-10 in the opening match of the weekend round, taking a one-point lead over the Cape Town-based Stormers in the overall standings.
The Reds fell back to third when they conceded a last-minute penalty to lose 28-26 to the 13th-placed Wellington Hurricanes.
The loss snapped the Reds' winning streak, a franchise record which topped their six-match run in 1996. It extended their losing streak against the Hurricanes to three games and Queensland is now without a win in Wellington since 1998.
The Stormers beat the Durban-based Sharks 32-12, taking a four-try bonus point to remain in second place overall and to leave the leaders of the New Zealand, South African and Australian conferences in the top three places on the championship table.
The Canterbury Crusaders beat the Western Force 42-30 to remain in fourth place and only three points behind the Blues. The Highlanders — third-placed in the New Zealand conference — are now fifth and the Sharks — second placed in South Africa — are sixth overall.
The New South Wales Waratahs beat the Melbourne Rebels 28-9 while the defending champion Bulls kept their playoffs hopes alive with a 43-27 win over the Waikato Chiefs, balancing their record at five wins and five losses after 10 games.
The Hurricanes emerged from a roller-coaster tussle with the Reds with only their third win of the season which celebrated captain Andrew Hore's 100th Super rugby match.
The Reds scored a try after only 80 seconds but winger Faifili Levavae scored in the 11th minute as Wellington ran in four tries in 24 minutes to grab a bonus point and a 22-5 lead by halftime.
Queensland then rallied and scored 21 unanswered points, including two tries to winger Luke Morahan, to lead 26-25 with less than 10 minutes remaining. The Reds seemed likely to cling on until a late offside infringement gave flyhalf Aaron Cruden a chance and he slotted the winning goal on fulltime.
"We had enough opportunities to put the came away but we missed opportunities and it shouldn't have come down to that last kick," Queensland captain James Horwill said.
Center Jean de Villiers returned from injury to score a try and help the Stormers to their second win over the Sharks this season. The Stormers bagged a four-try bonus point in the match played in front of 46,000 fans in Cape Town, extending their lead at the top of the South African conference to eight points.
"Beating the Sharks twice is very good but there is still a lot of rugby to be played," Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said. "The players are working hard to make this season's campaign a success and this result will be encouraging for them."
The Blues' win over Otago completed a clean sweep of wins over their rivals in the New Zealand conference.
"We're ecstatic. Some of the boys are saying it's a grand slam now we've done four of them," coach Pat Lam said. "In the derby games that are so crucial to beat all four is a big achievement for us. Now we've got to do it all over again so that's another challenge."
Richie McCaw was sin-binned in the second half of the Crusaders match against the Western Force, breaking their momentum. They re-established their control in the last 10 minutes to post their seventh win from 10 games.
"We took our chances our early, but mistakes and ill discipline, including by me, let the Force back into the game," McCaw said.
Wynand Olivier scored two tries as the Bulls rallied from 20-13 down at halftime to beat the Chiefs, while Sarel Pretorius scored twice for the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs who beat the ACT Brumbies 47-36.
Kurtley Beale kicked 15 points in the Waratahs' win over the Rebels.
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The Blues relied on penalties from flyhalf Luke McAlister to beat the Otago Highlanders 15-10 in the opening match of the weekend round, taking a one-point lead over the Cape Town-based Stormers in the overall standings.
The Reds fell back to third when they conceded a last-minute penalty to lose 28-26 to the 13th-placed Wellington Hurricanes.
The loss snapped the Reds' winning streak, a franchise record which topped their six-match run in 1996. It extended their losing streak against the Hurricanes to three games and Queensland is now without a win in Wellington since 1998.
The Stormers beat the Durban-based Sharks 32-12, taking a four-try bonus point to remain in second place overall and to leave the leaders of the New Zealand, South African and Australian conferences in the top three places on the championship table.
The Canterbury Crusaders beat the Western Force 42-30 to remain in fourth place and only three points behind the Blues. The Highlanders — third-placed in the New Zealand conference — are now fifth and the Sharks — second placed in South Africa — are sixth overall.
The New South Wales Waratahs beat the Melbourne Rebels 28-9 while the defending champion Bulls kept their playoffs hopes alive with a 43-27 win over the Waikato Chiefs, balancing their record at five wins and five losses after 10 games.
The Hurricanes emerged from a roller-coaster tussle with the Reds with only their third win of the season which celebrated captain Andrew Hore's 100th Super rugby match.
The Reds scored a try after only 80 seconds but winger Faifili Levavae scored in the 11th minute as Wellington ran in four tries in 24 minutes to grab a bonus point and a 22-5 lead by halftime.
Queensland then rallied and scored 21 unanswered points, including two tries to winger Luke Morahan, to lead 26-25 with less than 10 minutes remaining. The Reds seemed likely to cling on until a late offside infringement gave flyhalf Aaron Cruden a chance and he slotted the winning goal on fulltime.
"We had enough opportunities to put the came away but we missed opportunities and it shouldn't have come down to that last kick," Queensland captain James Horwill said.
Center Jean de Villiers returned from injury to score a try and help the Stormers to their second win over the Sharks this season. The Stormers bagged a four-try bonus point in the match played in front of 46,000 fans in Cape Town, extending their lead at the top of the South African conference to eight points.
"Beating the Sharks twice is very good but there is still a lot of rugby to be played," Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said. "The players are working hard to make this season's campaign a success and this result will be encouraging for them."
The Blues' win over Otago completed a clean sweep of wins over their rivals in the New Zealand conference.
"We're ecstatic. Some of the boys are saying it's a grand slam now we've done four of them," coach Pat Lam said. "In the derby games that are so crucial to beat all four is a big achievement for us. Now we've got to do it all over again so that's another challenge."
Richie McCaw was sin-binned in the second half of the Crusaders match against the Western Force, breaking their momentum. They re-established their control in the last 10 minutes to post their seventh win from 10 games.
"We took our chances our early, but mistakes and ill discipline, including by me, let the Force back into the game," McCaw said.
Wynand Olivier scored two tries as the Bulls rallied from 20-13 down at halftime to beat the Chiefs, while Sarel Pretorius scored twice for the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs who beat the ACT Brumbies 47-36.
Kurtley Beale kicked 15 points in the Waratahs' win over the Rebels.
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