Good weekend for NZ Super 12 sides

Chiefs 18
Blues 9

Twice in recent times Adrian Cashmore has stared down his old teams and won.

Last August the prize was the Ranfurly Shield and on Saturday it was a gritty Super 12 victory for the Chiefs against the Blues, a win which may have huge implications for both sides.

Had the Chiefs fallen to their third straight loss, their hopes of repeating their playoffs success of last year might also have disappeared. As Cashmore put it, there was a huge psychological difference between a 0-3 record and a 1-2 results sheet.

"It affects the team spirit, your morale drops and once that goes it is hard getting that back," the experienced former Auckland and Blues fullback said.

"The biggest thing out of tonight was we showed some courage which is just about attitude, which has probably been missing those first couple of games."

The Chiefs had spent much of the week "putting the pressure on individuals and getting themselves right upstairs," for the local derby.

As coach Ian Foster said later, the Chiefs' first home game was time to relaunch the side's season. The messages were all about defence and that theme was reinforced with the '100 per cent Heart and Soul' text adorning the match programme.

While the Chiefs adhered to their instructions, the missives were ignored for another week by the Blues. Coach Peter Sloane was once more lamenting the lack of continuity and high error rate.

He could have added the side's inability to puncture a passionate defensive screen.

This time there was no sideline subs botchup to help the Blues, nothing like the great escape they completed last week against the Reds.

"We can say we have changed our systems but I would like to think we could do a lot better than that out there," said Sloane.

Chiefs coach Foster changed his lineup for the side's first home game in Hamilton.

Loki Crichton went from fullback to the wing and Cashmore came into fullback. Both repaid the selection with their defensive organisation against the perceived threats from the Blues, as did Derek Maisey and Sione Lauaki who had impressive first starts of the season.

Foster also had to deal with news that Tom Willis' season was over, while lock Keith Robinson has received a pass mark from his surgeon but no timeline on his re-entry into Super 12.

Through all that adversity, the Chiefs held on to repeat the win they had over the Blues last season.

Lauaki, Mark Ranby, Byron Kelleher, Jono Gibbes and Simms Davison were all significant forces among a side of tenacious tacklers.

Lauaki blasted away in several fearsome runs but Foster was more impressed with his tackling and workrate at the breakdown. Kelleher was a relentless worker, annoying the Blues, hassling them, niggling them while completing his foundation halfback duties. Similar qualities held for Ranby who led the midfield defensive line.
The job now is for the Chiefs' attack to match the defence.

On the evidence of Saturday night, they are coming to their game and should continue progress against the erratic Reds on Friday.

The Chiefs were helped by injuries to both Blues tighthead props which left referee Kelvin Deaker with no choice than setting Golden Oldie scrums.

That saved Deacon Manu, who received Deaker's protection even though he battled to hold up the scrum against Tony Woodcock. From that reprieve the Chiefs stacked up in the lineout duels through Sean Hohneck and Gibbes, won the important loose ball scrambles and hit the visitors so persistently on defence that they crumbled.

Crusaders 59
Reds 24

It was business as usual for the Crusaders who relished having a rare outing with the afternoon sun on their backs in Nelson.

They ran in eight tries to four, but both teams suffered injuries to key players.

The Reds lost captain and playmaker Elton Flatley with a head gash just before halftime and powerful winger Wendell Sailor hobbled off with a leg injury.

Hard-running centre Casey Laulala has a suspected pinched nerve in his shoulder after scoring the opening try and could be in doubt for Saturday night's game against the Blues at Eden Park.

The Crusaders, 50-18 winners over the Chiefs a week earlier, romped to a 35-5 halftime lead. Rico Gear scored his first try as a winger and ended the scoring in injury time with his second, from centre.

After Dan Carter's first-minute penalty, the Reds surprisingly took the lead with centre Junior Pelesasa's first of his two tries.

But it was one-way traffic from then on. Carter got 22 points from first five-eighths to steer the ship.

The small consolation for the Reds was that their four tries earned them a bonus point.

They play the Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday night.

Hurricanes 29
Sharks 23

First five-eighths Jimmy Gopperth continues to have a big say in the Hurricanes' flying start to the season.

He was influential in their 40-point roasting of the Cats a week ago and scored a further 24 points as they held off the fast-finishing Sharks in Durban.

Both teams scored two tries, but Gopperth's five penalties and two conversions proved decisive.

The Hurricanes were 29-9 ahead 15 minutes from the end before winger Henno Mentz and centre Adrian Jacobs grabbed late tries to give the bottom-placed Sharks a sniff.

"They were pretty determined," said Hurricanes captain Rodney So'oialo.

"It's hard for any team to play here but we're quite happy and relieved to get two wins from two."

The Hurricanes absorbed an enormous amount of early pressure, and trailed 6-0 after a dropped goal from Herkie Kruger and a penalty by Butch James.

But once Gopperth kicked his first four penalties and flanker Ben Herring scored the Hurricanes' opening try, the visitors had the measure of their opponents.

Waratahs 40
Cats 19

Makeshift fullback Peter Hewat shone in a five-tries-to-two win in Johannesburg which kept the Waratahs two points clear at the top of the table.

Hewat switched from right wing after in-form Wallaby Mat Rogers withdrew with a groin injury.

Last season, the Waratahs' mid-season slump coincided with a serious Rogers leg injury, but at the weekend Hewat made sure the Wallaby's absence was not costly with a 20-point haul, which included one important try.

The Cats had clawed their way to within six points 12 minutes after halftime when Wallaby wing Lote Tuqiri wove past several half-hearted tackles to set up Hewat for a soft try near the corner.

That was the end of the Cats' challenge, which had started impressively when veteran prop Os du Randt had barged over for the opening try midway through the first half.

But a couple of Waratahs tries inside three minutes - Hewat and Tuqiri setting up first five-eighths Shaun Berne for the first and Hewat putting Tuqiri through for the second - turned the tide.

Cats fly-half Andre Pretorius kicked three penalties to keep his side in touch until Hewat dived over, and there were more Waratahs tries in the closing stages from centre Morgan Turinui and replacement forward Rocky Elsom.

The Waratahs head back to Sydney to play their third straight South African side, the Stormers, on Saturday night while the Cats host the defending champions, the Brumbies.

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On Friday night the Highlanders beat the Bulls 23-0 and the Brumbies edged out the Stormers 22-19.