The Highlanders ran in five tries to two against the Stormers in a 33-15 victory, making it two wins from two for the season as round four of Vodafone Super Rugby kicked off on Friday.
The Stormers now have only one win from four, despite dominating territory, leaving captain Siya Kolisi frustrated at his side’s error rate on attack.
“It’s the same story every time… we didn’t hold onto the ball, we didn’t come away with points when we got to the 22 and they did,” he said.
“We can’t keep making the same mistakes every week.”
SCORE
Highlanders 33
Tries: Smith 2, Whitelock, Naholo, Squire
Cons: Sopoaga 4
Pens: 0
Stormers 15
Tries: Willemse, Van Zyl
Cons: Marais 1
Pens: Marais 1
Rebels vs Brumbies
The Rebels have arrived as the team to beat in the Australian Conference, blitzing the Brumbies 33-10 in a match with plenty of feeling at AAMI Park.
It was the Will Genia show once again in attack but the depth coach Dave Wessels has at his disposal was on display, as Ross Haylett-Petty and later, Colby Faingaa shined as pivotal pieces in the Melbourne engine room.
Amanaki Mafi put in an enormous shift with ball in hand, smashing over the gain line with every carry, but the work of locks Matt Philip and the younger Haylett-Petty brother, on either side of the ball, was also of note.
SCORE
Rebels 33
Tries: Mafi, Hodge 2, Maddocks, Ruru
Cons: Hodge 4
Pens: 0
Brumbies 10
Tries: Peni, Speight
Cons: 0
Pens: 0
Hurricanes vs Crusaders
Jordie Barrett stole the limelight from big brother Beauden as the Wellington Hurricanes crushed the defending Super Rugby champions Canterbury Crusaders 29-19 in Wellington on Saturday.
The unbeaten Hurricanes’ four tries to three victory was their sixth win in a row at home against the Crusaders and put them on top of the New Zealand conference.
They made a storming start and were up 21-0 after 21 minutes, while the Crusaders’ cause was not helped by the loss of their captain Sam Whitelock and backline general Ryan Crotty with head knocks in the first seven minutes.
SCORE
Hurricanes 29
Tries: Proctor, Lam, Perenara, Eves
Cons: Barrett 3
Pens: Barrett 1
Crusaders 19
Tries: Alaalatoa, Taufua, Mataele
Cons: Hunt 2
Pens: 0
Reds vs Bulls
The Reds have staved off the Bulls with a desperate 20-14 win – a result that would have gone the other way in years gone by.
An Alex Mafi hit on Lood de Jager after the final siren, as the Bulls made one last push for the line, sealed the result in a scenario that often turned to heartbreak over the past five years.
Queensland trailed 14-3 when Andre Warner crossed for a try in the 25th minute and scored 17 unanswered points to claim their second win of the season, sending the 11,827 fans on hand home happy.
There were, once again, glimmers of a Reds team that will provide great hope for their loyal fan base.
SCORE
Reds 20
Tries: Timu, Toua
Cons: Tuttle 2
Pens: Tuttle, Lance
Bulls 14
Tries: Gelant, Warner
Cons: Pollard 2
Pens: 0
Sharks vs Sunwolves
Springbok prop Tendai “The Beast” Mtawarira became the most capped Shark in Super Rugby and his 138th appearance was marked by a seven-try bonus-point
50-22 success over the Sunwolves in Durban.
“The forwards did their job and the backs finished off the work,” said the Zimbabwe-born loosehead. “That was the performance we had been looking for.”
Winger Makazole Mapimpi, who is set to challenge for the Springboks No. 11 shirt this year, used his speed and strength to score twice.
SCORE
Sharks 50
Tries: Wright, Nkosi, Vermeulen, Mapimpi 2, Mtembu, van der Merwe
Cons: Bosch, du Preez 5
Pens: du Preez 1
Sunwolves 22
Tries: Tupou, van der Walt, Lemeki
Cons: Nakamura, Matsushima
Pens: Tatekawa
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Lions vs Blues
The Blues have piled on four tries in the closing minutes to upset the previously unbeaten Lions 38-35 in a Super Rugby thriller in Johannesburg.
Murphy Taramai crossed to give his team the lead for the first time with 18 seconds remaining and ensured they picked up their first win of the season.
Trailing the powerhouse South African outfit 28-10 with 17 minutes remaining, the Blues somehow found a second-wind on the highveld on Sunday morning.
A double to All Blacks winger Rieko Ioane, playing out of position at centre, kick-started the late surge before replacement forwards Jimmy Tupou and Taramai completed one of the Auckland-based team’s more memorable wins.
SCORE
Lions 35
Tries: Smith, Dyantyi, Jantjies, Janse van Rensburg, Mahuza
Cons: Jantjies 5
Pens: 0
Blues 38
Tries: Taramai, Tupou, Ioane 3
Cons: Perofeta 4, Gatland 1
Pens: Gatland 1
Jaguares vs Waratahs
NSW Waratahs are facing a huge Super RUgby test against the unbeaten, new-look, Melbourne Rebels after their unbeaten start to the season was shattered in a 38-28 loss to the Jaguares.
The match was reminiscent of so many in the Waratahs’ horrific 2017 campaign, in which they frequently conceded sizeable leads and found themselves chasing the game.
The Jaguares scored four tries in the opening quarter, including the the first five-pointer within 17 seconds, to rush to a 22-0 lead at Velez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires.
SCORE
Jaguares 38
Tries: Orlando, Delguy, Sanchez, Tuculet, Boffelli 2
Cons: Sanchez 4
Pens: 0
NSW Waratahs 28
Tries: Holloway, Rona, Palmer, Folau
Cons: Foley 4
Pens: 0