Chiefs beat Highlanders in Super Rugby opener
>> DUNEDIN: Winger James Lowe scored two intercept tries in the first half to set the Chiefs on course to a 24-15 win over the Highlanders in a crucial New Zealand derby in the first round of Super Rugby.
The Dunedin-based Highlanders held significant advantages of territory and possession in both halves but the Chiefs used an intense and pressing defence to force errors which led to Lowe’s double before half-time.
The Queensland Reds opened with a 28-26 win over the Sharks, with replacement scrum-half Jim Tuttle crossing out wide late only a minute after going on to claim the winning try before Pat Lambie missed a chance to kick the South African club to victory in Brisbane.
The Queenslanders had more than double the run metres of the Durbanbased Sharks, and scored four tries against two, but over-complicated their attack and had to scrape for the win on home soil.
In Dunedin, Lowe’s first try came from a careless back pass by All Blacks centre Malakai Fekitoa and his second came from a loose pass by winger Waisake Naholo, allowing the Chiefs to take a 14-9 lead to half-time against the run of play.
A slick lineout move led to a try by hooker Hika Elliot in the 46th minute which clinched victory. Elliot threw to scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow at the front of the lineout, Kerr-Barlow quickly returned the ball to Elliot and he scrambled down the touch line for a try that gave the Chiefs a 21-9 lead.
The Highlanders were kept in the match by a series of penalties from fly-half Lima Sopoaga — five in total — and the penalty count against the Chiefs accelerated in the late stages of the match as they tired and lost discipline. But the Highlanders couldn’t find a way to cross the tryline and the Chiefs will go home to Hamilton with their first win in their last six matches against the Highlanders in Dunedin.
In Brisbane, the Reds didn’t hit the front until the last eight minutes via Tuttle’s try despite rampaging centre Samu Kerevi scoring two tries and No.8 Scott Higginbotham also touching down.
Jean-Luc du Preez and Tera Mtembu scored tries for the Sharks, who led 26-23 going into the last 10 minutes. Missed kicks cost the Reds, with Quade Cooper converting one try and landing two penalties. But in the end it was a miss by Sharks fly-half Lambie four minutes from time that gave the Reds a victory.
On Thursday, the Auckland Blues beat Melbourne Rebels 56-18.