Must-win matches shake up the playoffs race in Super Rugby Pacific
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — In a weekend of must-win matches in Super Rugby Pacific, some teams achieved and others stumbled in the six-team playoffs race.
The defending champion Blues were at the top of the must-win category, having begun to lose touch with sixth place when they were beaten a week ago by the Queensland Reds. It was the seventh loss of the season for the Auckland-based team.
They had to win Friday against the sixth-place Western Force, and they did 40-19 in a match which was closer than the margin indicated. The Blues' victory depended a great deal on their scrum dominance.
The win lifted the Blues to sixth while the Perth-based Force dropped to seventh, based on points differential.
Coach 'Stern' Vern Cotter had made clear his displeasure after the Blues' loss to the Reds left their season dangling by a thread with matches remaining against the Force, the Fijian Drua in Fiji, Moana Pasifika and the New South Wales Waratahs.
'It's never really nice when your coach is questioning your attitude,' Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu said. 'But I think that's what we needed — a bit of a wake-up call.'
The Wellington-based Hurricanes needed to back up last week's performance against the Canberra-based Brumbies, when they became the first New Zealand team to win in Australia this season. That win lifted them into the top six but into a very tight struggle to hold onto a playoffs place.
They produced another upset, beating the top of the table Chiefs 35-17 with the help of four second half tries by winger Bailyn Sullivan who replaced Kini Naholo at halftime. Naholo who has scored eight tries this season suffered a serious knee injury.
The Hurricanes moved up to fifth place after Round 12, four points ahead of the Blues, with matches remaining the Highlanders, the Crusaders and Moana Pasifika.
The Chiefs remained atop the standings in a points tie with the Christchurch-based Crusaders who couldn't take advantage of the Chiefs' loss because of a weekend bye.
The Brumbies stayed in third place after a 40-17 win over the Waratahs, who dropped to eighth place, still only a point out of sixth. The Queensland Reds stayed in fourth, despite an upset 36-33 loss to the Fijian Drua.
Hometown Heroes
The Fijian Drua maintained an outstanding home record when they beat the fourth-placed Reds in Suva on Saturday.
The win echoed the Drua's 41-17 win over the Reds in 2023 and 28-19 win in 2024.
So far this season the Drua have won three of five home matches but haven't yet managed to win away from home and are at the bottom of the table.
Over the last three years, the Drua have had 19 home matches and won 14. That includes victories over the Crusaders, Waratahs and Melbourne Force. But the Reds especially have struggled in Fiji.
The Drua sealed their win with a 79th minute try on Saturday to replacement Isikeli Rabitu, dealing a blow to the Reds in their first match since their head coach Les Kiss was named to succeed Joe Schmidt as Wallabies coach.
Beale is back
Former Wallabies utility Kurtley Beale scored a try to mark his return to rugby after a 10 months break, for the Western Force against the Blues.
The 36-year-old Beale didn't shirk contact in his first match since sustaining a ruptured Achilles in a Sydney club game.
He played at fullback and turned in a solid 72 minutes before being substituted. Beale had a number of neat touches before crossing in the left corner for a second-half try.
'It's good to be back but disappointed in the end,' he said. 'The game's changing. It's getting fitter, faster, stronger.
'But I enjoy the challenge. I love the unpredictability of the game.'
___
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
De La Cruz out of Reds' lineup against Arizona after flight from Dominican Republic canceled
CINCINNATI (AP) — Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz will not be in the lineup for Cincinnati's series opener against Arizona on Friday night after his flight from the Dominican Republic, where he was mourning the death of his older sister, was canceled. The 23-year-old De La Cruz returned to the Dominican after Wednesday's 9-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. He was not placed on the bereavement list and was expected to be back in Cincinnati late Friday. 'He was actually trying to get here in time for the game, but one of his flights got canceled, so he's getting here later,' Reds manager Terry Francona said. The Reds got a boost to the lineup Friday when first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand was reinstated from the 10-day injured list. He had been on the IL since April 17 due to back inflammation. Second baseman Matt McLain moved to short in place of De La Cruz, and Garrett Hampson was set to play second base against the Diamondbacks. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. ___ AP MLB:
Vancouver Sun
a day ago
- Vancouver Sun
Tom Mayenknecht: Stanley Cup and NBA finals roar out of the gate
If the opening games in the NHL Stanley Cup Final and NBA Finals are of any indication, then hockey and basketball fans are in for a real treat over the next two weeks. Game 1 for each delivered plenty on the entertainment meter, setting the stage for big world of mouth and heavy social media traffic going into their respective Game 2. Overtime games and one-point buzzer beaters result in the television ratings spikes that are pure joy to broadcast programmers, national sponsors, merchandisers, licensees and sports bars and restaurants across North America. That's exactly what we saw Wednesday in the 4-3 overtime win by the hometown Edmonton Oilers over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and Thursday in the 111-110 jaw-dropper that the Indiana Pacers laid on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Indiana overcame a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to completely change the tone and tenor of the NBA Finals, beginning with the surge in viewers that happened in the final 12 minutes. The OCT became the first NBA team in 28 post-seasons to lose a game in which they led in the last three minutes of regulation time by seven or more points. Game 1 of the NBA Finals saw Tyrese Haliburton of the Pacers outdo MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander — the Canadian from Hamilton, Ontario. The track record this season for Gilgeous Alexander and the Thunder has been to rebound nicely from their rare losses and that could happen here, but make no mistake that there is now no more room for error by the Thunder, a consistently dominant team all year and one anchored by the professional poise of SGA. The biggest bull market may be lining up for Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers , who could become the first Canadian-based team to win the Stanley Cup in the 32 years since the Montreal Canadiens did so in 1993. The single biggest beneficiary would be the personal legacy of McDavid, already one of the stars of Canada's win at the Four Nations Face-Off in February. He needs a Cup to cement his status as an all-time great, in much the same way stars such as Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin have done over the past 40 years. It's one thing for Major League Baseball to have two of its franchises — the Tampa Bay Rays and the team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics — playing in minor league ballparks or spring league venues seating about 10,000 fans. It's quite another thing for the Miami Marlins to be drawing flies to their much larger ballpark in South Florida. Television images of the Marlins playing at home are not worthy of the major league designation. They're the antithesis of what you want to attract new fans, especially when stadium employees outnumber paying customers. Those three clubs are the cellar dwellers when it comes to MLB attendance numbers as the baseball season approaches its midway mark. Playing at Steinbrenner Field — the Grapefruit League home of the New York Yankees — the Rays are drawing an average of 9,855 per game while the Athletics are averaging 10,005 in Sacramento. Yet the Marlins' average of 11,648 fans per game — which is less than one-quarter the attendance of the league-leading Los Angeles Dodgers (50,250) — is the most embarrassing of all given their stadium capacity of 37,422 at LoanDepot Park. Think of it this way: the Marlins need to play more than four games to match a single night's turnstile count at Dodger Stadium. Tom Mayenknecht is the host of The Sport Market on Sportsnet 650 on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Vancouver-based sport business commentator and principal in Emblematica Brand Builders provides a behind-the-scenes look at the sport business stories that matter most to fans. Follow Mayenknecht at: .
Global News
a day ago
- Global News
ANALYSIS: It's been 32 long years since a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup
You've heard it time and time again. It's been 32 years since a Canadian-based team was able to skate around the ice carrying the Stanley Cup. And here we are, with one game done and another one to be played Friday night in Edmonton, with Canada's last hope now just three games away from the ultimate goal. Thirty-two long, frustrating years. Story continues below advertisement As a country of 40 million, we can proudly say it's our passion for hockey and for our local teams that makes the NHL tick. We have kept the NHL relevant. And even more emphatically, Wednesday's first game of the Stanley Cup final between the Oilers and Florida Panthers was viewed by 4.5 million Canadians. That's two million more viewers than watched south of the border, in a country with a population eight times larger. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy And did you know that the TV ratings for each of the seven Canadian teams are better than any U.S.-based team? Teams like the Winnipeg Jets have better ratings than Boston, New York, Detroit and Chicago. It's hard to imagine. Oh sure, there are great franchises and great stories amongst the 25 teams based in the United States. But understand, this truly is our country's league. With almost half of the players Canadian, and so much of the business success around the NHL driven by Canadian markets and Canadian dollars, it's important to know that we treat this league differently than the other major pro sports leagues. Story continues below advertisement Yes, it's a business — big business and getting bigger all the time. But in our country, hockey is a public trust. For sure, the expectation of any or all of the fan bases in Canada is to win, but fans invest more than money. We feel the anguish of every loss, the joy of every goal, the pain of every hit. We don't watch hockey, we live it. That's why 32 years feels oh, so long. And there are still no guarantees that the streak won't get longer.
