Vodafone Super Rugby wrap: Round three

Sun, Mar 4, 2018, 11:24 PM
AAP -  Ben McKay
by AAP - Ben McKay
The Chiefs secured their first victory of the 2018 Super Rugby season after a nail biting finish away to New Zealand counterparts the Blues.

The Australian sides kept their strong form to start the year rolling but there was plenty of Super Rugby action abroad in round three.

In case you missed any of it, here are the full highlights and a quick wrap of each match.

BLUES V CHIEFS


The Chiefs took their unbeaten run against their New Zealand rivals to 13 matches, a record between two teams in the southern hemisphere competition.

The sequence includes 12 wins and one draw, with the Blues last tasting victory in the North Island derby in March 2011.

It was a particularly painful loss for coach Tana Umaga's side, who led 14-5 mid-way through the first half and faced a Chiefs outfit weakened by 17 injuries.

SCORE

Blues 21

Tries: Gatland, Ioane, Pulu

Conversions: Gatland 3

Penalties: 0

Chiefs 27

Tries: Weber, Cane, Wainui, Seu

Conversions: McKenzie 2

Penalties: McKenzie 1

REDS V BRUMBIES

The Reds largely dominated possession and territory on Friday night but had only six penalty goals - three from James Tuttle and three from Jono Lance - to show for it.

Fortunately, it was all they needed to secure their first victory of the new campaign, proving the Reds are made of much sterner stuff than what their season-opening defeat to the Melbourne Rebels suggested.

The Brumbies went over twice - through scrumhalf Joe Powell in the first half and Isi Naisarani with five minutes to go.

SCORE

Reds 18

Tries: 0

Conversions: 0

Penalties: Tuttle 3, Lance 3

Brumbies 10

Tries: Powell, Naisarani

Conversions: 0

Penalties: 0

SUNWOLVES V REBELS


It's the first time in their eight seasons that the Rebels have opened a campaign with two-successive wins, thanks to their influx of ex-Western Force stars and new coach Dave Wessels.

Jack Maddocks scored a hat-trick among a haul of six tries on Saturday at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, with the Rebels picking up another bonus point.

However, the exciting young winger faces being axed from the starting side for next week's home clash with the Brumbies to make way for the return of Test flyer Marika Koroibete from a knee injury.

SCORE

Sunwolves 17

Tries: Tupou, Quirk

Conversions: Nakamura 2

Penalties: Nakamura 1

Rebels 37

Tries: Maddocks 3, Mafi, Naivalu, penalty try

Conversions: Hodge 1

Penalties: Debreczeni 1

Yellow card: Quirk (Sunwolves)

CRUSADERS V STORMERS


The Crusaders remain unbeaten but it may have may have come at some cost with fly-half Richie Mo'unga suffering a suspected broken jaw.

He was taken to hospital after colliding with Stormers prop Steven Kitshoff and could be sidelined for several weeks.

Winger George Bridge again tormented Stormers, scoring two tries after notching a hat-trick the last time the sides met in Christchurch.

Crusaders turned around 31-7 ahead at half-time and while Stormers won kudos for a brave second-half comeback, they never threatened to pull off a sensational victory.

SCORE

Crusaders 45

Tries: Mo'unga, Tamanivalu, Bridge 2, Harmon, Taylor

Conversions: Mo'unga 5

Penalties: 0

Stormers 28

Tries: Kitshoff, Schickerling, Louw, Van rensburg

Conversions: Whitehead, Marais 3

Penalties: 0

SHARKS V WARATAHS


A late try to replacement scrumhalf and NSW Waratahs debutant Mitch Short has earned his side a 24-24 Super Rugby draw with the Sharks in Durban.

The Tahs led 7-0 after an early converted try to starting scrumhalf Jake Gordon, but the visitors twice trailed by seven in the second half.

NSW played the second half without Wallabies centre Kurtley Beale, who reportedly suffered a rib injury, which forced a reshuffle in the visitors' backline.

Both teams scored three tries in a scrappy mistake-marred match in which neither side ever led by more than seven points.

SCORE

Sharks 24

Tries: Am 2, du Preez

Conversions: du Preez 3

Penalties: du Preez 1

NSW Waratahs 24

Tries: Gordon, Hooper, Short

Conversions: Foley 3

Penalties: Foley 1

BULLS V LIONS


After beginning with a win over the Hurricanes, Bulls paid dearly for ill discipline as they were savaged by the Lions.

Conraad van Vuuren was yellow-carded on 54 minutes for offside and fellow forward Nic de Jager went to the sin bin a minute later for collapsing a maul.

The Lions added 14 points when numerically advantaged to go 42-21 clear and got a further try before Bulls scored twice in a late rally.

"I was really happy with our mauling," said Lions skipper Warren Whiteley. 

"We had to fight for the victory and there is plenty of room for improvement."

Stand-in Bulls captain Handre Pollard said: "Losing two players to the sin bin in quick succession proved too much for us." 

SCORE

Bulls 35

Tries: Ismaiel, Gqoboka, Pollard, Kotze

Conversions: Brummer 3

Penalties: Boshoff 3

Lions 49

Tries: Cronje, Mahuza, Marx, Orie, Van Rooyen, Dreyer

Conversions: Jantjies 6

Penalties: 0

JAGUARES V HURRICANES


The Hurricanes scored five tries to none as they picked up their first points of the season with a 34-9 mauling of Argentina's Jaguares at Velez Sarsfield.

The five tries were enough to secure a bonus point as the 2016 champions left their hosts with a third-straight loss - their worst start in three seasons in the competition.

Hurricanes flyhalf Beauden Barrett, making his first start after coming off the bench in the 21-19 loss to the Bulls in South Africa last weekend, converted three tries while his replacement Jackson Garden-Bachop slotted a penalty.

Winger Ben Lam and centre Ngani Laumape scored first half tries but flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez kept the Argentine side within sight, his third penalty in the 47th minute edging them within three points after the visitors had led 12-6 at halftime.

SCORE

Jaguares 9

Tries: 0

Conversions: 0

Penalties: Sanchez 3

Hurricanes 34

Tries: Thomson, Aso, Proctor, Laumape, Lam

Conversions: Barrett 3

Penalties: Garden-Bachop 1

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