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Sharks sense blood Top Super 12 teams lose ground over the weekend
Posted: Sunday April 25, 1999 02:15 PM
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- South Africa's Coastal Sharks took advantage of a loss by first-place Otago and byes to two other contenders to move into semifinal territory in rugby union's Super 12 competition on the weekend. Henry Honiball kicked four penalty goals in a tryless match as the Sharks beat the Auckland Blues 12-6 Saturday, their first win in five attempts at Eden Park. Well across Manukau Harbor at Pukekohe, meanwhile, the Waikato Chiefs and South Africa's Golden Cats scored all the tries the region appeared to have on offer for the weekend. The teams combined for 12 tries -- seven to Waikato -- as the Chiefs edged the Cats 44-42. In the other Saturday match, Canterbury beat South Africa's Northern Bulls 30-28 while on Sunday, the ACT Brumbies beat Wellington 21-13. On Friday, New South Wales helped the Sharks by beating front runners Otago 23-15. South Africa's Western Stormers, in second place, and the Queensland Reds, level with the Sharks in third place, both had weekend byes. The results left Otago in first place with 30 points, four ahead of the Stormers and seven ahead of the Sharks and Reds. New South Wales and the ACT are level in fifth with 22 points, followed by Auckland with 21. There are four rounds left in the first round of the competition, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals on the May 22-23 weekend. At Pukekohe Stadium, a final-minute try by standoff Glen Jackson gave the Chiefs its gutsy two-point win over the Golden Cats. Waikato's win came in the final 10 minutes when Cats captain Johan Erasmus was hit with a professional foul. The result denied the Cats their first win in New Zealand, which had hinged on a last-gasp decision by the Chiefs. Awarded a penalty 35 meters out in the final minute of play, the Chiefs opted to run the ball instead of taking the opportunity to kick for a draw. Jackson latched on to a perfect pass and streaked over in the corner for the winning points. "Dylan Mika [flanker] made the call and we thought what the hell we might as well go for it, we wanted the win rather than the draw," Jackson said. At Auckland, the loss of front line props Craig Dowd and Paul Thomson weakened the Blues scrum which was unable to compete squarely against a well-organized and committed Sharks pack. "We concentrated right through and we absorbed the pressure to come away with this win," Sharks hooker Chris Rossouw said. Coastal Sharks captain Wayne Fyvie was happy to break the Eden Park winless drought. "It was a very committed performance and we just didn't give them any space," Fyvie said. "It was very physical but very enjoyable." A last-gasp drop goal by Canterbury replacement fly-half Andrew Mehrtens kept alive his team's slender semifinal hopes and condemned the Bulls to their ninth consecutive loss. The Crusaders fought their way back from a 17-7 deficit after just 19 minutes to win the Loftus Versfeld clash 30-28. The Bulls picked up two bonus points -- one for scoring four or more tries, the other for losing by fewer than seven points. On Friday, New South Wales, fighting for a semifinal berth, beat the Highlanders. "It was a hard-fought, pressure game, which we had to win," New South Wales captain Michael Brial said of the three-tries-to-one win at Carisbrook in Dunedin, where Otago rarely loses.
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