Blues hold on in battle at the top
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BLUES held on with their backs to their try line as they edged past the Hurricanes 31-27 to leapfrog their Kiwi rivals and move top of the table.
In a match between the longtime New Zealand rivals, the Hurricanes had the last attacking opportunity and battered the Blues’ goal line in the final moments of a match between the first- and second-place teams after 12 of 15 regular-season rounds.
Blues finally won a defensive turnover and kicked the ball out to end four minutes after fulltime to take pole position which they will likely hold on to for home advantage throughout the play-offs.
“We put a premium on defence and in tough times like that, that’s when it counts,” Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu said. “We want to back our defence and trust it and it paid off in the end.”
Hurricanes came close to winning the match when Super Rugby’s record try-scorer, scrumhalf TJ Perenara got the 64th of his career in the 68th minute, putting the Hurricanes only a point behind the Blues.
But fly-half Harry Plummer kicked a penalty soon after – his fifth goal from five attempts – to stretch the Blues lead to four points and they held on.
“Rugby’s a cruel game,” Hurricanes captain Brad Shields said. “It was pretty tense which is what we expected. I think we let them into the game too early and the fact we managed to stay in it was good.”
The Blues scored after only five minutes through centre Bryce Heem but the Hurricanes struck back with a try from Shields. A try to Cole Forbes put the Blues ahead 14-5 before Hurricanes winger Josh Moorby cut the lead to 1410 at half-time.
The Hurricanes took the lead with a try by back rower Peter Lakai but the Blues rallied with winger Mark Telea touching down and led 21-17.
Jordie Barrett narrowed the lead to a point with a penalty but the Blues had their biggest lead at eight points after a contentious try by Angus Ta’avao who appeared to score in a double movement before Perenara’s try set up a thrilling finish.
Highlanders’ Cameron Millar’s 27 points compounded Crusaders’ season of misery as they slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 games.
Rob Penney’s men had looked like they might salvage some dignity from the season with a 39-0 win over the Melbourne Rebels two weeks ago but losses to the Reds and to Miller’s masterclass this weekend consigns them to 10th place with just three games to play.
The 21-year-old Millar opened the scoring with a penalty before converting a try from Tanielu Tele’a. Crusaders wing Sevu Reece soon scored his first of two before Dallas McLeod crossed to give Crusaders a lead while Highlanders’ Folau Fakatava waited in the bin, but Millar closed out the half with a try, conversion, and two penalties for a 26-14 half-time lead.
Through Reece and a Chat Fihaki penalty, Crusaders got within four points but two more Millar penalties put the game to bed before a last minute Macca Springer losing bonus point consolation.
Crusaders were spared further blushes with the Waratahs losing 29-21 at home to third placed Brumbies in biblically poor conditions. With the pitch reduced to a quagmire, Brumbies edged into a lead with a Charlie Cale try and points from Ryan Lonergan opening a half-time lead despite a Jake Gordon effort.
The ‘Tah’s first half, however, was underscored by an achilles injury to Harry Johnson-Holmes, the 27-year-old becoming the sixth prop on head coach Darren Coleman’s injury list.
Brumbies, meanwhile, have everything to play for sitting just six points from top approaching the run-in, and put a sloppy first half behind them to claim a bonus point through tries from Rob Valetini, Len Ikitau and crucially Sefo Kautai just minutes before the final whistle.
Queensland Reds won 26-22 over mid-table rivals Melbourne Rebels but lost star No.8 Harry Wilson to a broken arm, with his hopes for a return to Test rugby under new Australia head coach Joe Schmidt this summer dealt an untimely blow.
The Reds victory keeps them six points ahead of the Rebels in fifth and sixth place, with a crucial 10 minutes in the second half during Lachie Anderson’s sin bin earning them victory.
Anderson’s yellow for team offences was punished brutally through tries from Fraser McReight, Jock Campbell, and breakout star Tim Ryan – all converted by James O’Connor – to give the Reds an unassailable lead despite a late effort from Macau Nabolakasi.
The Chiefs kept their hopes of a top two finish alive with an emphatic 43-7 victory over Moana Pasifika in Auckland.
Chiefs were without star Damian McKenzie but fly-half Josh Jacomb stepped in to provide a solid performance alongside their talismanic captain Luke Jacobson.
Moana Pasifika threw everything at their more-favoured opponents, but the Chiefs stood tall in defence.
Etene Nanai-Seturo’s wonderful individual finish at the start the second half, a fabulous chip-andchase effort, got the Chiefs rolling after the break before further tries from Anton Lienert-Brown, busy loose forward Simon Parker, Jacobson and the energetic Liam Coombes-Fabling.
Western Force beat Fijian Drua 48-10 courtesy of tries by Chase Tiatia, ex-Ealing back row Carlo Tizzano, Michael Wells, Lopeti Faifua, Bayley Kuenzle and Ben Donaldson.