4 stay unbeaten as Pietersen leads Sharks in Super Rugby weekend

Joe Pietersen’s near flawless boot enabled the Coastal Sharks to remain unbeaten and hand newcomers the Jaguares a narrow 19-15 first defeat of the Super Rugby season at the weekend.

Fullback Pietersen, who also gave a commanding defensive display, slotted four penalties from five attempts and converted a driving-maul try by Marcell Coetzee to give the South Africans a second straight success in the expanded 18-team competition, leaving the Sharks as one of just four teams with a 100 per cent record after two games.

The Argentine side led 15-13 at half-time, despite having two players sin-binned.

Skipper Agustin Creevy rued missing the opportunity to record a second victory in South Africa after overcoming the Cheetahs on the opening weekend. “We had chances to win this game but could not take them, partly because we were up against a very good team in the Sharks,” said Creevy.  

Two other South African teams — Western Stormers and Golden Lions — and Australia’s ACT Brumbies remain unbeaten.

The Johannesburg-based Lions enjoyed the most impressive result, coming out on top 36-32 after a rollercoaster battle against two-time champions Waikato Chiefs in New Zealand to follow up their opening win in Tokyo over the Sunwolves.

The South Africans withstood a late Chiefs rally — the home side twice won penalties on the Lions try-line in the closing minutes but could not score — to win a nail-biter for their first ever victory in Hamilton in nine attempts.

The Stormers won their South African derby with the Central Cheetahs 20-10 in Bloemfontein, with Springboks Eben Etzebeth with and Pieter-Steph du Toit dominating the line-outs to set up the triumph.

The Brumbies proved themselves the current leading Australian provincial side with a bruising 32-15 derby win over the 2014 champions NSW Waratahs in Canberra to lead their conference.

– Super sub Parker –

The Brumbies pulled clear in the second-half of a torrid derby after an 8-8 stalemate at halftime on the back of their dominant scrum and at the breakdown.

The home side scored four tries to two with a penalty try among them as the Waratahs’ pack were back-pedalled over their try-line by the surging Brumbies’ pack.

There are three leaders of the New Zealand conference following weekend wins by defending champions Otago Highlanders and seven-time winners Canterbury Crusaders.

The Highlanders fought back from their opening round loss to the Auckland Blues to pip the winless Wellington Hurricanes 17-16 with Hayden Parker the toast of Otago when he came off the bench to kick the winning penalty with five minutes remaining in the rematch of last season’s final.

The Crusaders, coming off a first-round loss at home to the conference co-leaders Chiefs, downed the Blues 28-13 in Christchurch.

Elsewhere, the Queensland Reds’ woes continued in a dispiriting 22-6 home loss to Western Force.

Japanese cult hero Ayumu Goromaru, starting at fullback for the first time in Super Rugby, kicked his team’s only points but missed two other attempts at vital stages in a scrappy encounter.

The Force’s Jono Lance and Luke Morahan came back to haunt their old team. Fly-half Lance kicked five penalties and laid on the kick for winger Morahan to score the only try.

The Northern Bulls thumped Australia’s Melbourne Rebels 45-25 in Pretoria. Former Springbok Bjorn Basson scored a hat-trick of tries in a 10-try extravaganza that failed to produce a bonus point.

The Sunwolves and Southern Kings had byes.
Source: AFP