Rugby Union Super 14 Weekend Wrap up after Round 13

Draw Keeps Waratahs' Semi-Final Hopes Alive

SYDNEY—The NSW Waratahs remain in the hunt for a home semi-final after clinching a late 13-13 draw with the Stormers in a pulsating Super 14 encounter in wet and wild Cape Town.

A sideline conversion from five-eighth Kurtley Beale earned the Waratahs a share of the points after makeshift fullback Lote Tuqiri crashed over in the corner.

The Waratahs enter the final round in third position and probably requiring a bonus-point victory over arch-rivals the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Saturday night to snare a home semi.

The Tahs are one competition point behind the second-placed Hurricanes, who travel to Auckland for a huge all-New Zealand showdown with the sixth-placed Blues on Friday night.

The fourth-placed Stormers and fifth-placed Sharks are also in the running for a home semi, but need to win well and hope the Hurricanes and Waratahs both slip up.

The Stormers take on the lowly Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday night, while the Sharks are home to the seventh-placed Chiefs - who can also squeeze into the playoffs if results go their way - in the potentially decisive last match of the regular season in Durban early Sunday morning AEST.

Courtesy of two Beale penalty goals either side of a try to the Stormers' Fijian import Sireli Naqelevuki, the Waratahs led 6-5 at the break in pouring rain at Newlands.

The inclement weather conditions made handling extremely difficult and there were precious few clear-cut tryscoring chances.

Naqelevuki used the wet field to perfection, sliding over the line in the left corner after being set free with a well-timed pass by his captain and centre Jean de Villiers.

While the Waratahs might have been satisfied with their one-point advantage at the interval, they gave up their lead just 10 seconds after the restart.

Winger Lachlan Turner's attempted clearance from the kick-off was charged down by his opposite number Wylie Human, who collected the bouncing ball and dived over for the simplest of tries.

Flyhalf Peter Grant again missed the conversion, but the Stormers were four points in front and it soon became seven after replacement five-eighth Tony Brown slotted a penalty.

But Tuqiri's late strike following a period of sustained pressure and some slick handling by the backs and Beale's cool nerve saved the Waratahs from returning from the republic with their semi-final destiny out of their control.

Still, Waratahs captain Phil Waugh, the official man of the match in another inspirational display, lamented not winning and maintaining outright second spot.

"We had our chances to win this game. Every point they scored came from our mistakes. That's disappointing," Waugh said.

"It's the same stuff every week so it's getting frustrating."

De Villiers admitted the draw could be costly in the Stormers' challenge for a playoff berth.

"It was really difficult in the conditions. We were up against and it was not a good result for us," de Villiers said. "It feels like a loss."

Carter Inspires Crusaders to Comeback Win Over Gallant Reds

Daniel Carter of the Crusaders passes the ball during the round 13 Super14 match between the Queensland Reds and the Crusaders. (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

BRISBANE—All Blacks playmaker Daniel Carter returned from injury to pull the Super 14-leading Crusaders out of jail against the gallant Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium.

In a pulsating finish, Carter prevented one of the biggest upsets in Super rugby history when he slotted a sideline conversion and then scored a try in dying minutes to hand the Crusaders a 27-21 victory - and, with it, the minor premiership and home semi-final.

The Reds, who had two players sent to the sin-bin in the final 15 minutes, had a chance to complete the boilover in the final minute when they had a second successive penalty on the Crusaders line but a Stephen Moore quick tap ended disastrously.

The Crusaders scored 19 unanswered points after Carter and three fellow All Blacks with a combined total of 97 Test caps came off the bench with 28 minutes left.

When flyhalf Quade Cooper stepped his way over to end 12 phases of concerted pressure, the Reds led 21-8 and were poised for victory.

But coach Robbie Deans steadied a sinking ship by putting on the star-studded replacements of Carter, Ali Williams, Corey Flynn and Andy Ellis.

They hemmed the Reds in their own quarter for the rest of the match but desperate defence by Queensland only broke after Digby Ioane was sin-binned for a spear tackle on Casey Laulala.

Keiren Read crossed from the next play and Carter converted to make it 21-15.

With seven minutes left, halfback Ben Lucas was shown the yellow card for a profession foul near the line and Williams scored out wide soon after.

Carter coolly slotted the wide conversion for the visitors to take the lead at 22-21 and backed up to score a counter-attacking try minutes before fulltime.

The Reds were still given a standing ovation as they left the field, with Berrick Barnes, David Croft and skipper James Horwill standing tallest of all.

"It was hard to swallow but I'm extremely proud of my team. They really battled against it," said Reds coach Phil Mooney.

"The courage was outstanding, everyone had a crack and it was outstanding."

The Reds' defeat was further soured by a worrying shoulder injury to Wallabies fullback Chris Latham.

England-bound Latham may have played his last game for the Reds after coming off in the 12th minute with a suspected pectoral tear.

He sustained the painful injury in failing to stop winger Kade Poki in the left corner as he powered over for scintillating try.

By the time Cooper delivered a superb one-arm off-load for skipper James Horwill to lumber over in the 12th minute, Latham was making his way for the sideline.

He now appears in grave doubt of playing against NSW next Saturday night in what would be his 100th and last Super rugby match for the Reds.

The Reds shot out to a 14-5 lead when in-form winger Peter Hynes finished a fine team try.

Retiring flanker David Croft made a break from within his quarter and from the next phase Morgan Turinui bounced a pass to Hynes, who swerved past Poki and then ran over fellow winger Sean Maitland.

A Stephen Brett penalty goal reduced the halftime deficit to six points before the Crusaders showed their class to eventually haul in the Reds.

Hurricanes Boost Finals Prospects and end Force's Slim Hopes

PERTH—Outstanding defence wasn't enough to save the Western Force's Super 14 season as the Hurricanes extinguished their flickering semi-final hopes with a 21-10 victory in Wellington.

Boosting their own playoff prospects, the Hurricanes climbed above the NSW Waratahs into second place on the ladder with their eighth win of the season.

But the Force can start planning for 2009 following their sixth defeat this campaign.

Significantly for Australian rugby fans, though, the gallant Force did the Waratahs a big favour by preventing the Hurricanes from nabbing a bonus point.

Despite restricting the Hurricanes - who enjoyed a staggering 82 per cent of territory - to two tries, Force captain Nathan Sharpe refused to draw consolation in his side's brave defensive effort.

Instead, the Wallabies lock, who once again led from the front, said the Force's loss - and, with it, a likely finish in the bottom half of table this season - was another lesson in how far his side have to go to emulate the lofty position of Colin Cooper's Hurricanes.

"Our intensity was good, but against the Hurricanes you have got to tackle low, especially on a wet night." Sharpe said.

"The first up hits were good but they don't stick and they get over the advantage line too easily.

"It was a great learning experience for our younger guys, but we never had much chance to play some rugby.

"If we want to be contenders in the Super 14 game we have got to be able to win in those conditions away from home - we have got a bit to do from that game."

Bereft of many first-choice players, and the ball for long periods, the Force repelled the Hurricanes for long enough periods to keep the home side to one try in each half.

The tries to Andrew Hore and Hosea Gear, as well as four goals to Piri Weepu, saw the Hurricanes climb above the NSW Waratahs into second place on the ladder.

In torrential conditions, the ball retention by the Hurricanes gave them ample opportunities, but Force grit repeatedly held them up inches short.

A succession of goal-line raids were repelled by the Force, with a similar pattern unfolding in the second half - until a yellow card to David Pocock further stressed the visitor's desperate defence.

Hurricanes skipper Rodney So'oialo praised the Force's defensive efforts, while hinting they may live to regret not capitalising on their own attacking chances.

"We were still trying to get the bonus point there, but the Force really defended quite well, and made it very hard for us," So'oialo said

"When we got some points ahead of the Force we tried to get the extra bonus point, but unfortunately we couldn't."

The Force now return home to take on the Brumbies at Subiaco in their last game of an ultimately disappointing season which started so promisingly with four wins from their opening six matches.

"We are looking forward to getting home and getting stuck into them," Sharpe said.

Super 14 Results and Standings - Round 13

Hurricanes 21 – Western Force 10

HURRICANES 21 (Hosea Gear, Andrew Hore tries Piri Weepu con 3 pens) bt WESTERN FORCE 10 (Cameron Shepherd try Matt Giteau con pen) at Westpac Stadium. Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (Rsa).

Bulls 28 – Brumbies 17

BULLS 28 (JP Nel, Wynand Olivier, Wikus van Heerden tries Morn Steyn 2 cons 3 pens) bt BRUMBIES 17 (Alister Campbell, Peter Kimlin tries Stirling Mortlock 2 cons pen) at Loftus Versfeld. Referee: Steve Walsh (NZL).

Blues 40 – Highlanders 15

BLUES 40 (Nick Evans 2, David Smith, Anthony Tuitavake, Rudi Wulf tries Evans 2, Ben Atiga cons Evans 3 pens) bt HIGHLANDERS 15 (Aaron Bancroft, Adam Thomson tries Michael Delany con pen) at Carisbrook Stadium. Referee: Chris Pollock (Nzl).

Crusaders 27 – Queensland Reds 21

CRUSADERS 27 (Daniel Carter, Kade Poki, Kieran Read, Ali Williams tries Carter 2 cons Stephen Brett pen) bt QUEENSLAND REDS 21 (Quade Cooper, James Horwill, Peter Hynes tries Clinton Schifcofske 3 cons) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Mark Lawrence (RSA). Crowd: 21,768.

Sharks 33 – Cheetahs 14

SHARKS 33 (Jacques Botes 3, Odwa Ndungane 2 tries Rory Kockott 4 cons) bt CHEETAHS 14 (Meyer Bosman, Jongi Nokwe tries Conrad Barnard, Tewis de Bruyn cons) at ABSA Stadium. Referee: Willie Roos (RSA).

Lions 33 – Chiefs 27

LIONS 33 (Willem Alberts, Cobus Grobbelaar, Chris Jonck tries Earl Rose 3 cons 4 pens) bt CHIEFS 27 (Aled de Malmanche, Lelia Masaga, Mils Muliaina tries Stephen Donald 3 cons 2 pens) at Ellis Park. Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Aus).

Stormers 13 – NSW Waratahs 13

STORMERS 13 (Wylie Human, Sireli Naqelevuki tries Tony Brown pen) drew NSW WARATAHS 13 (Lote Tuqiri try Kurtley Beale con 2 pens) at Newlands Stadium. Referee: Lyndon Bray (Nzl).

Super 14 Ladder P W D L PF PA PD BP Pts

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