Round 12: Hurricanes, Chiefs lead New Zealand charge for Super 14 title

Hurricanes on top of Super 14 after round 12

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand’s challenge for the Super 14 rugby title strengthened in the 12th round as the Wellington Hurricanes and Waikato Chiefs assumed the top two places and defending champions Canterbury moved within sight of the playoffs.

The Hurricanes consolidated first place with a 45-27 win over the Auckland Blues, tapping a wellspring of late-season form which has seen them score 14 tries and 101 points in their last two games.

The Chiefs rebounded from an 11th-round loss to the Bulls to beat the Stormers 28-14 and return to second place, two points behind the Hurricanes. The Bulls held third after a 32-29 win over the Western Force and the Sharks kept up South Africa’s two-pronged title challenge, beating the Otago Highlanders 23-15 to stay fourth.

The New South Wales Waratahs moved into fifth place with an 18-10 win over the Cheetahs and the Crusaders moved to sixth, on level points with the Waratahs and ACT Brumbies, three points outside the top-four.

The Crusaders loomed into playoff contention with a 32-20 bonus-point win over the Lions while the Brumbies pressed their semifinals claims with a 52-13 win over the Queensland Reds, a week after their 56-7 loss to the Hurricanes.

The last two regular-season rounds will be intensely contested as only seven points separate the first seven teams and nine teams retain mathematical playoff chances.

The Force, in ninth place with 30 points, occupy the outer limit of playoff contention while the Highlanders, Stormers, Lions, Queensland and Cheetahs are all out of the race.

The Hurricanes conclude their season with away matches against the Chiefs and Reds, hoping to cement their place in the top four, then earn a home semifinal. The Bulls play the Cheetahs and Sharks while the Sharks face the Waratahs and Bulls — the most difficult assignment of the top four teams.

Outside the current top four, the Waratahs have matches remaining against the Sharks and Lions; the Crusaders face the Reds and Blues and the Brumbies play the Blues and Chiefs.

The Hurricanes assumed firm title favoritism with Friday’s six tries to four win over the Blues. The match began at a frenetic pace, with little structure and almost no defense, and five tries were scored in the first 20 minutes and seven in the first half.

The Hurricanes had banked a four-try bonus point by the end of the first quarter and led 35-20 at halftime. The second half became increasingly scrappy but was dominated both in territory and possession by Auckland, which also claimed a four-try bonus point.

The result left Wellington all but assured of a semifinal place and Auckland dependent on the results of other matches.

“There’s still two weeks to go in the competition,” Hurricanes and All Blacks halfback Piri Weepu said. “Although we are at the top of the table, we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves and think that we’re the best in the competition when there are other teams out there that are just as great and capable of beating teams on the day.”

Auckland captain Keven Mealamu saw his team’s playoff chances fade with their second straight loss and an increasing injury toll. Already hard-hit by injuries, the Blues lost All Blacks lock Ali Williams early in the first half with an ankle injury.

“We wanted to come down here and play well but as Pat (coach Pat Lam) said, we’ve still got a mathematical chance and for the rest of the season we’re just going to look to get better,” Mealamu said.

A late try to All Blacks center Richard Kahui gave the Chiefs a four-try bonus point from their win over the Stormers and lifted them above the Bulls on points differential.

“Facing the Hurricanes next weekend is an exciting prospect although there is still an awful long way to go in this tournament,” Chiefs captain Mils Muliaina said.

The Bulls missed a bonus point in their 32-29 win over the Force, slipping to third place. Flyhalf Morne Steyn was sin-binned for a shoulder charge 10 minutes from fulltime, leaving the Bulls to play out the match with 14 men and a 32-22 advantage.

The Force scored a try through center Ryan Cross with two minutes remaining but couldn’t bridge the gap and now retain only faint playoff prospects despite picking up two bonus points.