A weekend when rugby didn’t seem to matter
Super Rugby was overshadowed by the horrific Christchurch terrorist attack which rocked New Zealand on Friday.
There probably won’t be too many complaints little ground was made in the New Zealand conference after the much anticipated South Island derby between the Crusaders and Highlanders in Dunedin was cancelled.
As was the case when a canned fixture between the Crusaders and Hurricanes in the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake occured, the red and blacks and Highlanders were each awarded two points.
The shared points followed the 23-23 draw between the Chiefs and Hurricanes in Hamilton on Friday night, meaning four of the five Kiwi franchises have two points to show for the weekend.
With the Blues on a bye, only the last-placed Chiefs made up any ground in the NZ conference, although they still trail the fourth-placed Blues (six points) by three.
The unbeaten Crusaders (19 points) remain on top of the standings.
While some fans wanted the fixture – the Highlanders’ biggest money earner – to go ahead in a stand against the alleged terrorist’s murderous actions, the general consensus was the right call was made by the franchises to flag the game.
As Crusaders assistant coach Ronan O’Gara wrote in a column published in the
before the decision was made: ‘‘I’m really not even sure, or comfortable, with the idea that our game against the Highlanders should go ahead tonight in Dunedin.’’
O’Gara was about to fly to Dunedin with the Crusaders on Friday when he received a text message from the principal of Fendalton Open School, which four of his children attend. The text ‘‘rooted me where I stood’’ after learning the school was in lockdown, he explained.
While the Chiefs and Hurricanes match went ahead, there was a poignant moment before kickoff, when the two teams combined to form a huddle in the middle of the field during a pre-game minute’s silence to honour the victims of the attack.
The Hurricanes, who still have not won in Hamilton since 2007, had a golden opportunity to end the run when Chiefs pivot Marty McKenzie dropped the ball in-goal inside the last five minutes. However, Liam Mitchell knocked on under the sticks.
While it was a significantly improved performance by the Chiefs, they’re still winless and dead last through five rounds.
The match of the round was in Johannesburg where the Lions stormed back from 33-5 down to beat the previously unbeaten Rebels 36-33.
Lions reserve Gianni Lombard kicked the winning penalty after the final hooter, the 20th infringement the Rebels were pinged for on the day. In comparison, the Lions were penalised once.
Still without a win in South Africa since joining the competition in 2011, the Rebels copped two yellow cards after taking a 21-5 halftime lead.
The Brad Thorn-coached Reds also pulled off a fine second-half comeback to snare their first win of the season, 33-30 over the Sunwolves in Tokyo.
Tate McDermott pounced on a Harry Hockings charge down in the 75th minute to lock the game up, only for Hamish Stewart to miss the conversion.
However, Stewart made no mistake after the Reds were awarded a penalty inside the last two minute.
The Brumbies beat the Waratahs 19-13 in an underwhelming Australian derby on Friday night in Canberra, while the Stormers trounced the Jaguares 35-8 in Cape Town to improve to 3-1 ahead of their Australasian tour.