The Waikato Chiefs scored five tries, but missed every kick at goal as they slumped to a 25-25 draw against the Cheetahs in a Super 14 match in Hamilton, New Zealand, yesterday.
The Chiefs, who had lost their last four home matches and needed a win to stay in semi-final contention, scored four first-half tries to the Cheetahs’ one, but took only a 20-10 lead at the break after flyhalf Stephen Donald missed all the conversions and two penalty-kicks.
Inside center Callum Bruce took over the kicking duties in the second half after Donald was dragged off, but missed a penalty that would have wrested back the lead, then another conversion after a Liam Messam try that would have given his team a five-point buffer.
Cheetahs flyhalf Naas Olivier, who converted two of his team’s three tries, coolly slotted a penalty to level the scores with just over 10 minutes left.
It proved to be the last score of the match as the Cheetahs defended stoutly to continue the Chiefs’ winless season at their home Waikato Stadium.
“In the second half, we just had too many handling errors which kept the pressure off the Cheetahs,” Chiefs skipper Messam said in a televised interview.
The Chiefs remain six points adrift of the top four with three matches to play. The Cheetahs, who have managed only two wins this season, are out of the playoff race.
Tries by No. 8 Colin Bourke, winger Dwayne Sweeney and prop Toby Smith within the first 20 minutes gave the Chiefs the early running, before Cheetahs No. 8 Davon Raubenheimer got his team’s first to peg the deficit back to 15-8.
Donald missed his fourth conversion attempt after hooker Hika Elliot drove the ball over the line from a rolling maul and was then jeered after he elected to kick the ball to touch shortly before halftime, instead of taking a kick at goal.
Having dominated the play, the Chiefs were then stunned by two Cheetahs tries in quick succession 15 minutes after the break.
Prop W.P. Nel crossed the line first, before outside center Corne Uys pounced on a dreadful fumble in midfield by his opposite number Jackson Willison, then scooped a delightful back-pass to Meyer Bosman, who charged over to give the Cheetahs a 22-20 lead.
Messam then scored the Chiefs’ fifth and final try in the 62nd minute after a clever midfield steal by Elliot, but Bruce’s missed conversion allowed Olivier to tie the game seven minutes later with his second penalty.
■REDS 16, STORMERS 13
AFP, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
The Queensland Reds maintained their push for the Super 14 playoffs with another tenacious victory over South African title challengers Western Stormers yesterday.
The Reds moved to third in the standings midway through the 10th round after a gritty 16-13 win over the Stormers for their third straight victory.
Queensland have now conquered the top three teams this season — Canterbury Crusaders, Northern Bulls and the Stormers — and are looming as genuine contenders for the title after years of mediocrity.
Both sides scored a try each in the slogging encounter, but flyhalf Quade Cooper’s goalkicking proved the difference, with a conversion and three penalties from seven attempts to Peter Grant’s conversion and two penalties.
The Stormers’ losing bonus point was enough for them to take over at the top of the standings on goal difference.
“The boys are playing some great rugby at the moment,” Reds skipper Will Genia said. “It wasn’t pretty, but a win’s a win and our structure paid off as the Stormers feed on continuity.”
Queensland followed up their determined 19-12 win over the Bulls the previous week with another wholehearted display, particularly in defense, as they kept the big Stormers pack at bay in the second half.
Giant lock Andries Bekker scored after just three minutes, carrying over two tacklers and stretching his huge frame to plant the ball down for a try, but indiscretions allowed the Reds to claw their way back with two penalty-goals from Cooper for the Reds to trail 7-6 at halftime.
Queensland, roared on by a 30,259 home crowd, hit the front early in the second half from a Cooper penalty and former Melbourne Storm rugby league center Will Chambers won the chase to a Cooper kick directed to the corner to score.
Cooper’s conversion pushed the Reds out to a 16-7 lead after 47 minutes, but the Stormers hit back with consecutive penalties from Grant to trail by three points with 25 minutes left.
The Stormers applied the pressure, bombarding the Reds try-line at one stage in more than 20 phases, but the home defense stood resolute and launched their own counterattack in the final minutes.
Genia was over the try-line in the last minute, but was prevented from grounding the ball by Bryan Habana’s arm as the clock wound down.
“We just couldn’t get going and the conditions were very slippery tonight, and the Reds proved to be a very competitive team,” the Stormers’ Springbok flanker Schalk Burger said.
■FORCE 24, CRUSADERS 16
AP, PERTH, AUSTRALIA
The Western Force overcame a 13-0 halftime deficit to beat Canterbury yesterday and prevent the seven-time champion Crusaders from taking over first place in the standings.
Pekahou Cowan, Matthew Hodgson and Ben Whittaker scored tries in the final 40 minutes as the Force won for only the third time in 10 matches.
The Canterbury loss left the top four teams in the tournament level with 34 points each. The Stormers were in first place on points differential ahead of the Crusaders, the Bulls and the Reds.
A late penalty-goal by the Force’s David Hill prevented the Crusaders from picking up a bonus point for losing by seven or fewer points.
The clinching Force try was set up by a 60m sprint by substitute hooker Nathan Charles.
A Dan Carter drop-goal edged the Crusaders ahead 16-14 in the 68th minute, but Charles picked up a loose ball from a ruck near the Force’s 22m line and sprinted down field, shaking off one tackler before being brought down 20m short of the try-line.
Charles offloaded the ball to winger Cameron Shepherd, who was taken down himself, before passing the ball to Hodgson to cross over for the try.
Hill converted and hit a penalty with three minutes left to seal the Force’s first win over the Crusaders.
“The Force were too good for us tonight,” Crusaders captain Richie McCaw said.
“We put ourselves under too much pressure. It was a good game up front, but we turned it over too much and you just can’t do that,” he said.
McCaw said the Crusaders didn’t take the Force lightly.
“We were under no illusions this week coming into the match,” McCaw said.
Force captain Nathan Sharpe said it was a “gutsy effort.”
“We got the result in the end,” Sharpe said. “We’ve had a hard season. It was first and foremost about playing for each other.”
Sharpe said his team didn’t panic when they were trailing at halftime.
“We were confident with what we were doing,” Sharpe said. “We had a lot of ball, but we hadn’t quite got the result.”
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