Auckland end their blues, Melbourne Rebels tame Lions

WELLINGTON: The Auckland Blues snapped a woeful losing record downing a 12-man Wellington Hurricanes, while the Melbourne Rebels coasted past the Golden Lions in Super Rugby yesterday.

The Blues ended a run of 25 straight losses in away games in New Zealand with a 24-15 win over the Hurricanes in Wellington. Meanwhile in Melbourne, the Rebels broke a run of five losses against the Lions with a bonus-point 37-17 win over the South Africans.

Auckland’s win was their first derby away win in New Zealand since against the Hurricanes in 2013. The Blues, for so long the under-achievers of New Zealand rugby, had their cause helped by the Hurricanes ill-discipline with prop Tyrel Lomax red-carded early in the second

half for a shoulder to the head of Blues fullback Stephen Perofeta.

With 13 minutes to go Vaea Fifita received a yellow card and Jordie Barrett was sin-binned soon after as the ‘Canes record slipped to three wins from five games while the Blues now have four from six.

The Auckland side has unearthed a self-belief after returning victorious from South Africa where they toppled the Northern Bulls and the previously unbeaten Western Stormers in recent weeks.

However, it was hard to see them winning when the Hurricanes produced an explosive start with Ngani Laumape crashing through the Blues first line of defence, Fifita pulled in the remaining defenders leaving Ben Lam to scamper 30 metres to the line.

It was the sort of start that would have seen the Blues of old lose heart. Instead, they produced a huge defensive effort as the Hurricanes controlled most of the first half and then took control as the ‘Canes lost players in the second half.

Captain Patrick Tuipulotu said there is a new determination within the side. “There’s certainly a difference in mood... it’s a good feeling,” he said. “What I’m most happy with is we managed to keep our composure especially in tough times. Certainly in past years we probably wouldn’t have.”

The Rebels led 15-10 at half-time after getting away to 15-0 inside the opening 30 minutes from tries by Andrew Kellaway and Richard Hardwick. But yellow cards to Marika Koroibete and Tom English in the final 10 minutes of the half allowed the Lions back into the contest. — AFP

be held before October.

CRICKET

• The ICC have postponed the men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League A that was set to begin on March 16 in Malaysia. Canada, Denmark, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore and Vanuatu were set to take part.

GOLF

• The women’s LPGA golf tour cancelled the March 5-8 Blue Bay tournament to be held on Hainan. The tour also cancelled the Honda LPGA Thailand event in Pattaya and the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.

• The European Tour said the Maybank Championship (April 16-19 in Kuala Lumpur) and the Volvo China Open (April 23-26 in Shenzhen) have been postponed.

CYCLING

• The final two stages of the UAE Tour were cancelled after two Italian participants tested positive for coronavirus. Tests on 167 people at the event proved negative for coronavirus after they were feared to have been exposed to the infected cases.

• Four teams, including Britain’s Ineos, have pulled out of several cycling races in Italy.

• Race organisers in Italy, Europe’s most affected country by the outbreak, cancelled Saturday’s Strade Bianche oneday race after Rome decided to hold events without fans.

• The Milan-San Remo one-day race, one of cycling’s five ‘Monument’ classics, scheduled for March 21, has been cancelled.

RUGBY SEVENS

• The Japanese Rugby Football Union said the April 25-26 Asia Sevens Invitational, which doubles as a test event for rugby sevens at the 2020 Olympics, had been cancelled.

• The Singapore and Hong Kong legs of the World Rugby Sevens Series have been postponed from April to October. — Reuters