Sunwolves break their duck at last
THE SUNWOLVES have rarely had a crumb of comfort to saviour on their travels in Super Rugby, but they feasted on an error-prone Chiefs side to collect their first ever away victory.
Winless in 24 away matches prior to their trip to Hamilton, the Sunwolves sealed a 30-15 triumph that owed much to the boot of fly-half Hayden Parker.
The former Highlanders pivot kicked six from six in a starring performance to outshine his opposite number, All Black Damian McKenzie.
A haul of 15 points delivers a huge lift for Parker personally, having missed an 80th minute drop-goal attempt as victory evaded the Sunwolves last week in their narrow 31-30 defeat to the Waratahs.
For captain Michael Little, the result was just reward for the team’s effort and preparation behind the scenes. “It’s pretty amazing,” Little said. “The boys put in a lot of hard work this week and we knew we could do it.”
“I can’t give the boys enough credit, they put their bodies on the line. It was an outstanding effort.”
A strong first-half performance put the Japanese franchise on the path to victory. Tries from openside flanker Shuhei Matsuhashi and lock Uwe Helu gave the the visitors a 23-3 lead at the break.
In the 57th minute, Gerhard van den Heever scored for Sunwolves to offset the Chiefs’ attempt to get back into the contest through tries by Alex Nankivell and Etene Nanao-Seturo.
Chiefs scrum-half Brad Weber said his under-pressure side could not expect to win with the number of errors they committed.
“You’re not going to win the game if you keep coughing up the ball,” he said. “I think we coughed it up about 10 or 11 times.
“But you have to take your hat off to the Sunwolves. Their speed of ball and the way they were able to break tackles was pretty special and we have to take a hard look at ourselves because it was pretty embarrassing.” Reigning champions
Crusaders extended their winning streak to 18 by getjure ting the better of the Reds 22-12 at Suncorp Stadium.
Richie Mo’unga was uncharacteristically off rhythm with his kicking, converting only one of the Crusaders four tries.
Backs Braydon Ennor and Will Jordan both crossed for scores within the first ten minutes to give the visitors the edge, and Samu Kerevi responded for the Reds just before the end of the half. Second-half tries from Whetu Douglas and Jordan Taufua ensured Scott Higgbotham’s late finish was little more than a consolation.
Handre Pollard punished the ill-discipline of the
Lions as six penalty kicks handed the Bulls the bragging rights in the Jutskei derby, 30-12.
The fly-half’s Springbok teammates Duane Vermeulen and Warrick Gelant contributed with tries for the visitors, while the hosts were left frustrated by their lacklustre backline who are yet to con- a try this season.
Two sin-binnings proved costly for the Sharks as they were edged 16-11 by the
Stormers at King’s Park. Damian Willemse’s intercept try proved the difference after the Sharks had backline maestro Lukhanyo Am and hooker Akker van der Merwe yellow carded in the first half.
Ngani Laumape’s reputation as one of the competition’s most difficult players to defend against hit another level, with his hat-trick guiding the
Hurricanes to a comprehensive 43-13 win over the Brumbies.
‘Canes skipper Dane Coles crossed over for two tries of his own, and James Blackwell dotted down after the final hooter as the hosts eased past their Australian opponents.
Elsewhere, the Rebels beat the Highlanders 24-19 on a night where temperatures in Melbourne topped 30 degrees celsius.
Centre Tom English providing the finishing touch to the work of half-back duo Will Genia and Quade Cooper with two tries, while Jack Maddocks and Billy Meeks also scored for the home side.