Blues and Hurricanes in wins

SYDNEY – New Zealand sides Auckland Blues and Wellington Hurricanes supplanted South African rivals from the leading two positions at the top of rugby’s Super 14 table with contrasting victories this weekend.

The Blues and Hurricanes capitalised on South Africa’s Natal Sharks’ bye by restating New Zealand’s supremacy in the southern hemisphere provincial series. Kiwi teams have won nine of the 11 past titles.Auckland mixed flair and pace to overrun the Queensland Reds 38-13 at home for their third win in four outings on Saturday, while the second-placed Hurricanes left it to a last-minute try to secure an 11-10 win over the ACT Brumbies in Wellington on Friday.Six-time champions Canterbury Crusaders made it a big weekend for New Zealand teams with a 49-28 shredding of South Africa’s Central Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.South Africa’s Golden Lions joined the Sharks in joint third spot with a last-minute penalty to deny Western Force 25-24 in Perth Saturday for their first-ever victory in Australia.New Zealand’s Otago Highlanders are level with the Crusaders, one point behind the Lions, after beating South Africa’s Western Stormers 35-24 in Dunedin.South Africa’s Northern Bulls claimed their second win of the season after Springbok winger Bryan Habana scored a last-gasp try to clinch a thrilling 30-27 win in Pretoria over the Waikato Chiefs from New Zealand.Auckland Blues bounced back from their one-point loss to the Hurricanes last week to earn their first bonus point this season by scoring four tries against the dismal Reds.The Crusaders scored six tries to three to pound the Cheetahs in a fine display of controlled, patient rugby, recovering from their shock loss to the Lions the previous week.The Crusaders, missing several All Black players, picked up a scoring bonus point to move into the top half after leading 20-11 at halftime.In Dunedin, Otago and the Stormers both took a bonus point with four tries each, but three of the Stormers’ tries came in the final quarter when the result was beyond doubt and the Highlanders were down to 14 men after running out of replacements.Meanwhile, England’s thrashing by Ireland could be a bad omen for France who will face “a warm welcome” at Twickenham in two weeks, France captain Raphael Ibanez said on Sunday.”The 43-13 result at Croke Park is a bit surprising but such a defeat will give England extra motivation,” the Wasps hooker told journalists.”I mix with England players all season and I can assure you that they are great competitors,” he added.”They will be out to redeem themselves and we can expect a warm welcome but we must not approach the Twickenham match as an insurmountable ordeal but as a fantastic challenge.””We know we’ll face a hard task in a fortnight but we will travel to Twickenham with confidence because of our three wins,” team manager Jo Maso added.Maso said the reason why France were recovering well from their two November thrashings by the All Blacks was that the 40-player squad had adopted a new way of living and working together.Nampa-AFPKiwi teams have won nine of the 11 past titles.Auckland mixed flair and pace to overrun the Queensland Reds 38-13 at home for their third win in four outings on Saturday, while the second-placed Hurricanes left it to a last-minute try to secure an 11-10 win over the ACT Brumbies in Wellington on Friday.Six-time champions Canterbury Crusaders made it a big weekend for New Zealand teams with a 49-28 shredding of South Africa’s Central Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.South Africa’s Golden Lions joined the Sharks in joint third spot with a last-minute penalty to deny Western Force 25-24 in Perth Saturday for their first-ever victory in Australia.New Zealand’s Otago Highlanders are level with the Crusaders, one point behind the Lions, after beating South Africa’s Western Stormers 35-24 in Dunedin.South Africa’s Northern Bulls claimed their second win of the season after Springbok winger Bryan Habana scored a last-gasp try to clinch a thrilling 30-27 win in Pretoria over the Waikato Chiefs from New Zealand.Auckland Blues bounced back from their one-point loss to the Hurricanes last week to earn their first bonus point this season by scoring four tries against the dismal Reds.The Crusaders scored six tries to three to pound the Cheetahs in a fine display of controlled, patient rugby, recovering from their shock loss to the Lions the previous week.The Crusaders, missing several All Black players, picked up a scoring bonus point to move into the top half after leading 20-11 at halftime.In Dunedin, Otago and the Stormers both took a bonus point with four tries each, but three of the Stormers’ tries came in the final quarter when the result was beyond doubt and the Highlanders were down to 14 men after running out of replacements.Meanwhile, England’s thrashing by Ireland could be a bad omen for France who will face “a warm welcome” at Twickenham in two weeks, France captain Raphael Ibanez said on Sunday.”The 43-13 result at Croke Park is a bit surprising but such a defeat will give England extra motivation,” the Wasps hooker told journalists.”I mix with England players all season and I can assure you that they are great competitors,” he added.”They will be out to redeem themselves and we can expect a warm welcome but we must not approach the Twickenham match as an insurmountable ordeal but as a fantastic challenge.””We know we’ll face a hard task in a fortnight but we will travel to Twickenham with confidence because of our three wins,” team manager Jo Maso added.Maso said the reason why France were recovering well from their two November thrashings by the All Blacks was that the 40-player squad had adopted a new way of living and working together.Nampa-AFP