The British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand is now in the forefront of rugby fans minds following the culmination of the Six Nations.
British players will now head back to their clubs to stake their final case for inclusion in Warren Gatland's touring party, while Kiwis are continuing to fight for spots in the All Blacks squad.
Kiwi derbies are usually the most ferocious affairs in Super Rugby, and fans have been treated to plenty of them in a top-heavy schedule to start the season. Pitting potential All Blacks against one another is always a useful tool for Steve Hansen, yet it has come at a cost with a number of injuries which could cost New Zealand in a couple of months time.
Crusaders come from behind once more to go four from four
In what is becoming a weekly occurrence now, the Crusaders found themselves in a deep hole during their match with the Blues, before dominating the second-half to come out as 33-24 winners in Christchurch.
Having overturned 17 and 21 point deficits to claim victories in week two and three, the Crusaders were down 24-5 on their own turf against a Blues side who looked to have their number. A pair of first-half tries from George Moala sandwiched an effort from standout scrum-half Augustine Pulu as the Blues went in search of their first win over the Crusaders since 2014.
Debutant Manasa Mataele scored the only first-half points for the home side, but with around 30 minutes left on the clock he was joined on the scoresheet by Peter Samu who forced his way over from close range soon after entering the field.
From that moment on, the Blues lost any control they had on the tie, and didn’t come close to adding any more points as the Crusaders bench lifted them past their opponents. Ben Funnell was next to score, cutting the deficit to five, before Mitchell Hunt converted his own try with ten minutes remaining to give Scott Robertson’s side their first lead of the game.
The scoring wasn’t finished though, and in the final moments, Mitchell Drummond dummied from the back of the ruck before diving over, with Hunt’s conversion pushing the Blues out of bonus point position as Tana Umaga’s men became the latest to suffer at the hands of the comeback Crusaders.
Chiefs strike late to claim bonus point win over Rebels
The Chiefs joined the Crusaders atop the overall ladder, with three late tries helping them defeat the Rebels 27-14 in Melbourne.
It was the visiting Chiefs who scored the only try of the first-half with Dominic Bird fastest to the loose ball, but a yellow card to Liam Messam kept the Rebels in the game with Jackson Garden-Bachop knocking over an easy penalty.
Having been thumped in their first two encounters this season, many expected another heavy defeat for the Rebels, but they put themselves in position to cause a shock win when NRL convert Marika Koroibete finished expertly in the corner, before Garden-Bachop added another penalty to put the hosts 11-7 ahead.
Things got even worse for the unbeaten Chiefs when Solomon Alaimalo was sent to the bin for a dangerous tackle, but just before he returned to the field his side had forged ahead with Brodie Retallick bashing his way over the line for the second game running.
Garden-Bachop and Damian McKenzie then traded penalties before the Chiefs all-but clinched victory when Sam Cane drove his way over from close range to put them eight points ahead with two minutes left on the clock. Incredibly they still had time to claim a try bonus-point, and after turning the ball over in their own 22, some quick offloading freed Anton Lienert-Brown who scorched down the right-wing before timing his pass to Shaun Stevenson to perfection who would not be stopped.
Brumbies win in Sydney once more while Hurricanes win battle of recent champs
With talk that they may be the Australian team culled ahead of the 2018 season, the Brumbies did their talking on the field with a 28-12 victory over the Waratahs in Sydney.
The first-half was a particularly dour affair, with Tom Robertson’s eighth minute try for the hosts coming soon after Scott Fardy was sent to the sin-bin, before the Brumbies got on the board just prior to the half-hour mark with Tevita Kuridrani bursting through to level things at 7-7.
The game then suddenly came to life around the hour mark with Robbie Abel scoring a try for the second week running to give the Brumbies their first lead of the encounter, before Henry Speight then lit up the contest with a long range effort as the visitors surged clear.
The Tahs’ needed points in a hurry, and they got themselves back into the game with replacement scrum-half Jake Gordon crossing, but that was as good as it got as Speight struck again late on to lead the Brumbies to the top of the Australian conference.
Earlier on Saturday, the Hurricanes scored seven tries to get back to winning ways in their 41-15 triumph over the Highlanders in Wellington.
Much of the damage occurred late on for the Highlanders who were only two points down at the break after Matt Faddes responded to tries from Ardie Savea and Ngani Laumape for the hosts, with Laumape reeling in an incredible kick pass to the corner from Jordie Barrett for his score.
The younger of the Barrett brothers was again to the fore as the Hurricanes made the perfect start to the second stanza. After catching a cross-field kick from his brother Beauden, Jordie weaved past a defender before flicking a magical out the back pass to Matt Proctor who crossed under the posts. TJ Perenara was yellow-carded for a high shot, and the Highlanders capitalised instantly with 2015 final hero Elliot Dixon scoring on this ground once more to draw the away side to within two points.
With Aaron Smith withdrawn by the Highlanders, they struggled to gain a foothold and after Laumape broke through to score his second of the game the Canes bench pushed them to a bonus point win. Vince Aso was the main beneficiary of the late game dominance, scoring two tries to take his season tally to six, with Julian Savea also crossing to maintain his strong start to the campaign.
Lions crush Reds as Skosan bags four
An away fixture at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg is among the most feared in Super Rugby and it proved to be a fearful experience for the Reds who fell to a 44-14 defeat against the Lions.
Having only conceded two first-half tries to Courtnall Skosan and Jaco Kriel, the Reds were holding their own until a quick-fire card double which saw Eto Nabuli sent to the sin-bin, and Quade Cooper sent off for good saw their chances of a surprise evaporate.
From that moment on the Lions were rampant, claiming five second half tries, with Skosan adding three more to take his tally for the day to four. Malcolm Marx and Rohan Janse Van Rensburg also crossed for five-pointers, with Duncan Paia’aua and Taniela Tupou responding in kind for the well-beaten 14-man tourists.
In Pretoria on Friday evening, the Bulls managed to hold on to a 34-21 win over the Sunwolves despite losing flanker Renaldo Bothma to a red card early in the second half.
The Bulls started better than their Japanese opponents and forged a 17-6 lead just after the half-hour mark following tries from the returning Jan Serfontein, and prop Pierre Schoeman to go alongside seven points from the boot of Handre Pollard. It was the Sunwolves who scored the pick of the first-half tries though, with Shota Emi producing a dazzling run before passing to Kenki Fukuoka who had too much pace for the covering defenders.
Trailing by just three, the Sunwolves were given a huge fillip, when Bothma was sent from the field for using a swinging arm in the tackle, but the extra man didn’t help them as Jason Jenkins crossed for the game’s fourth try just five minutes later.
The Bulls tightened their game plan up a little bit following the red, and after Serfontein put the result beyond doubt with his second try of the game, before Ed Quirk crossed for the Sunwolves late on in an improved performance from Filo Tiatia’s charges.
Jags continue impressive start with bonus point win over Cheetahs
At the Jose Amalfitani Stadium in the Argentinian capital, the Jaguares made it three wins from four in 2017 with an impressive 41-14 triumph over the much-changed Cheetahs.
The South Americans made a stunning start to the encounter, producing some great hands to set up an effort for Ramiro Moyano who finished with aplomb in the corner. Juan Martin Hernandez added a penalty to extend the lead before lock forward Matias Alemanno crashed over to make it 17-0 after the opening quarter.
Michael van der Spuy got the Cheetahs on the board with their first try, but the Jaguares responded a couple of minutes later when Moyano grabbed his second following a barnstorming run from Marcos Kremer.
Hernandez extended the lead with a penalty during a stop-start second half which had its first try when replacement front-rower Joseph Dweba smashed his way over for the Cheetahs ten minutes from time. Chasing two unanswered tries in the final four minutes to claim a bonus point, the Jaguares got their first when Moyano won the race to fall on the ball for his hat-trick, before extended pressure close to the Cheetahs line saw Paul Williams award them a penalty try after the full-time siren.
At Growthpoint Kings Park, tries from Lourens Adriaanse and Kobus Van Wyk accompanied nine points from the boot of Curwin Bosch as the Sharks overturned a halftime deficit to defeat the improving Kings 19-17, claiming their third-straight win in the process.