Rugby Union Super 14 - Weekend in Summary after Round 10

Waratahs Chase Home Semi as Super 14 Gets Serious

SYDNEY—The surging Waratahs will have the tasty bait of a Super 14 rugby home semi-final as motivation next week when they attempt to continue their recent rise by beating the Sharks.

NSW (31 points, 3rd) consolidated their top four spot with a 26-3 bonus point win over the lowly Lions (7, 14th) in Sydney.

The Waratahs, with four straight wins, got some help from their Australian rivals, especially the Brumbies (24, 8th), who kept alive their own finals hopes with an upset 27-21 victory over the previously unbeaten Sharks (32, 2nd) in Canberra yesterday.

Queensland (16, 10th) also did the Waratahs a favour with a 29-12 win over the Force (24, 9th).

A win in the final regular season home game over the Sharks at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday would lift the Waratahs into second prior to their final three fixtures against the Bulls, Stormers and Reds.

NSW captain and flanker Phil Waugh wasn't dwelling on the possibility of securing a coveted home semi final.

"That's a long way down the track, a home final, we've got a real tough back end of this competition," Waugh said.

"The Sharks haven't been winning convincingly but they are winning."

NSW coach Ewen McKenzie said the Sharks boasted "a well tuned forward pack" and a great driving game and had some unique threats with utility back Francois Steyne capable of kicking field and penalty goals from inside his own half.

After a scoreless first half against the Lions, the Waratahs scored four tries, all of them to forwards.

In a round of upsets, the Crusaders (38, 1st) lost their unbeaten record with an 18-5 defeat to the rising Chiefs (27, 5th) at Waikato Stadium.

The Stormers continued their revival and moved above the Hurricanes (26, 6th) with a 20-12 home victory over that team in Cape Town.

Defending champions the Bulls (15, 11th) returned to form with a 47-17 home flogging of the Highlanders (11, 12th) and Blues (25, 7th) and the Cheetahs (11, 13th) had the bye.

Brumbies end Sharks Unbeaten Run

George Smith of the Brumbies is tackled. (Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

CANBERRA—The Brumbies kept their Super 14 semi-finals hopes alive with a spirited 27-21 victory over South Africa's Sharks at Canberra Stadium.

It was the first loss of the season for the Durban side.

Trailing 18-7 at halftime, the Brumbies' season looked over, but strong defence and ill-disciplined play from the South Africans allowed them back in the game.

Referee Bryce Lawrence warned the Sharks on several occasions and sin-binned two of their players for periods during the second half.

The game turned almost from the restart with the Brumbies' defence much stronger than in the first 40 minutes and their attack finally sparked.

Wallabies fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper, under an injury cloud during the week, returned to his finest form with two tries while fullback Mark Gerrard kicked five from five attempts.

The Brumbies' third try was scored by No.8 Julian Salvi during one of the periods the South Africans were reduced to 14 players.

The Sharks will likely retain second spot on the ladder behind the Crusaders while the Brumbies' victory keeps them in contention but the run to the semi-finals is exceptionally tough for the Canberra team.

The ill-disciplined play of the South Africans during the second half cost them the game with a string of penalties for infringements at the ruck, particularly offside clearly irritating referee Lawrence.

At one stage he gave Sharks captain Johann Mueller "20 seconds to talk to your team" after a series of infringements.

Whatever Mueller said clearly had no impact as within a minute the referee had sent Francois Steyn to the bin for 10 minutes for another foul.

A spirited crowd of 13,784 cheered the Brumbies home in the second half on a chilly Canberra evening in a week in which ACT Rugby announced that coach Laurie Fisher's contract would not be renewed next season.

Force Back to Square one after Reds end Finals Hopes

Ben Lucas of the Reds in action. (Jonathan Wood/Getty Images)

BRISBANE—The Western Force have virtually kissed good-bye to their Super 14 finals hopes and will consider building towards 2009 after a 29-12 upset loss to Queensland.

Force coach John Mitchell and skipper Nathan Sharpe were fuming after the three-tries-to-nil defeat, easily their worst performance of the year, which has left their play-off chances hanging by a thread.

Mitchell intimated his side was now out of contention for the final four and was prepared to make some big decisions during their upcoming bye week.

"We never fired a shot. We looked like a team that was ready for a bye," he said.

"We deserved to be criticised. Our performance was unacceptable considering the quality of football that at times has been refreshing as a group, but for some reason it was a reflection tonight of not putting in.

"The Reds deserved their win and probably should have won by more to be totally fair."

The wavering Force, clearly missing injured spearhead Matt Giteau, now sit seventh in the competition and will slip back down the table further after next weekend's bye.

"Clearly we have got to readdress and redirect in some areas and we have to readdress our goals moving forward and I even may have to consider building for next year's season based on some of the things we are seeing," Mitchell said.

Rubbing salt into the Force's wounds, back-rower Tamaiti Horua (knee) and winger Haig Sare (ankle) sustained suspected season-ending injuries in the deflating loss.

Queensland, without a win over an Australian opponent in two years, paved the way for the boilover with a knockout victory up front to set up camp in the visitors' quarter for virtually the entire second half at Suncorp Stadium.

Former Reds winger Drew Mitchell gave his old team plenty of motivation by saying pre-match the Force would run over the top of the home side after Queensland's traditional "15 minutes of macho bravado".

"It's always interesting when it's a winger with streaked hair saying that after 15 minutes of fury they (the Reds forwards) would run out of puff, you tend to take it more seriously when it's a forward saying that," said Queensland coach Phil Mooney.

"I don't think we are being given the respect we deserve."

Mooney had asked his battlers to become the spoilers of the Super 14 after being knocked out of finals contention during a fruitless tour of South Africa and they responded to a man.

The execution was scrappy but they were far more enthusiastic and committed than the off-key visitors, who couldn't find a kicker to clear it out of their own territory in the second half.

The Force set the scene from the kick-off, a scrappy pass from Chris O'Young resulting in a skewed clearance kick by Drew Mitchell for a Reds lineout on the tryline.

Powerhouse No.8 Leroy Houston then drove over off the back of a maul for a try awarded after the television match official had several looks at the replay.

The visitors enjoyed 66 per cent of the possession in the opening half and fullback Cameron Shepherd tore the defence to ribbons with each touch but they could only close the gap to 13-12 at half-time through Shepherd's radar-like boot.

With the Reds scrum demolishing the Force pack, Queensland then shut them out in the second half as they enjoyed three-quarters of territory and the ball.

Tries to seasoned imports Morgan Turinui, enjoying his best game in the Reds jersey, and Andrew Walker, his 32nd in Super rugby but first for Queensland, were the icing on the cake in the second half.

Sharpe didn't mince words after the game.

"It was a terrible performance by our boys but we have to give credit to Queensland, they contested the breakdown much harder," he said.

"There was no excuse, we just didn't turn up mentally."

Super 14 Collated Results after Round 10

Chiefs 18 – Crusaders 5

CHIEFS 18 (Simms Davison, Sitiveni Sivivatu tries Stephen Donald con 2 pens) bt CRUSADERS 5 (Andrew Ellis try) at Waikato Stadium. Referee: Craig Joubert (RSA).

Queensland Reds 29 – Western Force 12

QUEENSLAND REDS 29 (Leroy Houston, Morgan Turinui, Andrew Walker tries Clinton Schifcofske con Schifcofske 3, Berrick Barnes pens) bt WESTERN FORCE 12 (Cameron Shepherd 4 pens) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Aus). Crowd: 18,084.

NSW Waratahs 26 – Lions 3

NSW WARATAHS 26 (Adam Freier, Dean Mumm, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Phil Waugh tries Kurtley Beale 3 cons) bt LIONS 3 (Jano Vermaak pen) at Sydney Football Stdm. Referee: Kelvin Deaker (Nzl). Crowd: 20,016.

Brumbies 27 – Sharks 21

BRUMBIES 27 (Adam Ashley-Cooper 2, Julian Salvi tries Mark Gerrard 3 cons 2 pens) bt SHARKS 21 (Ryan Kankowski, Francois Steyn tries Rory Kockott con Kockott, Ruan Pienaar pens Steyn drop goal) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Bryce Lawrence (Nzl). Crowd: 13,784.

Bulls 47 – Highlanders 17

BULLS 47 (Zane Kirchner 2, Akona Ndungane 2, JP Nel, Pedrie Wannenburg tries Morn Steyn 4 cons 3 pens) bt HIGHLANDERS 17 (Tom Donnelly, Chris King tries James Wilson 2 cons pen) at Loftus Versfeld. Referee: Paul Marks (Aus).

Stormers 20 – Hurricanes 12

STORMERS 20 (Andries Bekker, Schalk Brits tries Peter Grant 2 cons 2 pens) bt HURRICANES 12 (Hosea Gear Conrad Smith tries Jimmy Gopperth con) at Newlands Stadium. Referee: James Leckie (Aus).

Byes - Blues, Cheetahs

Top point scorers (tries, conversions, field goals, penalty goals, points):

Leading Tryscorers

5: Andrew Ellis (Crusaders), Akona Ndungane (Bulls), John Roe (Reds), Fetu'u Vanikolo (H'landers)

4: Daniel Carter (Crusaders), Tonderai Chavhanga (Stormers), Ryan Cross (Force), Stephen Donald (Chiefs), Casey Laulala (Crusaders), Brendon Leonard (Chiefs), Lelia Masaga (Chiefs), Chris Masoe (Hurricanes), Liam Messam (Chiefs), Jongi Nokwe (Cheetahs), Ma'a Nonu (Hurricanes), Peter Playford (Brumbies), Joe Rokocoko (Blues), Sitiveni Sivivatu (Chiefs), Lachlan Turner (Waratahs)