SOUTH AFRICA’S Golden Lions became the first team to secure a Super Rugby play-off berth at the weekend while the New Zealand and Australia conferences remained too close to call.
With only two rounds left in the regular season, the Lions’ 37-10 victory over the Coastal Sharks in Johannesburg gave them an unassailable 12-point lead in the Africa 2 conference.
It was not a perfect performance and the Lions drew criticism from stand-in captain Jaco Kriel for going off the boil in the second half.
But the five-try, bonus-point, triumph was enough to also propel them to the top of the overall ladder with 47 points.
The Western Stormers have all but wrapped up the Africa 1 group, drawing nine points clear of the Northern Bulls.
However, New Zealand’s top four — Waikato Chiefs, Canterbury Crusaders, Wellington Hurricanes and Otago Highlanders — are stacked up on 46, 45, 44 and 43 points respectively.
The Chiefs proved too good for previous competition leaders Crusaders with a 23-13 win in Fiji, the Hurricanes came from behind to beat the Auckland Blues 37-27 while the Highlanders downed the Southern Kings 48-18.
In Australia, the ACT Brumbies remain ahead of the NSW Waratahs on points differential only after both sides bagged bonus point wins.
The Lions led the Sharks 27-0 at half-time and stretched the advantage to 37 points at Ellis Park before a Sharks revival produced two tries.
Kriel, skippering the Lions in the absence of injured No. 8 Warren Whiteley, said being good for 60 minutes would not be good enough in the play-offs.
“We took our foot off the pedal in the final 20 minutes and that was cause for concern. In the knockout stages, the last quarter often determines which team triumphs,” he said.
- Battle for supremacy -
The Chiefs not only beat the Crusaders for the second time this year but they also went top of the New Zealand conference when an 80th minute penalty by fullback Damian McKenzie denied the Crusaders a consolation bonus point.
In the battle for overall supremacy, the Lions are still to play the lowly Southern Kings and Jaguares, the Chiefs face the Queensland Reds and Highlanders while the Crusaders are yet to play the Melbourne Rebels and Wellington Hurricanes.
The ‘Canes moved to one point behind the Crusaders with a late burst including two tries to Vaea Fifita to beat the Auckland Blues 37-27 after trailing 27-17 early in the second half.
In the tightly-contested Australian conference, the injection of Argentine scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli off the bench in the second half sparked the Brumbies to a 43-24 win over the Queensland Reds in Canberra.
But the six-tries-to-three bonus point performance was not enough to pull them clear of the Waratahs who scored nine tries when they dominated the Sunwolves 57-12.
The Stormers were also in bonus-point form when they beat the Rebels 57-31 in Melbourne, while their nearest rivals in the Africa 1 conference, the Bulls, were upset 29-11 by the Jaguares in Buenos Aires.
The reigning champions Highlanders stayed in contention in the New Zealand conference when they scored four late tries for a flattering 48-18 victory over the Kings.
In Bloemfontein, the Central Cheetahs pipped the Western Force 30-29, with both sides already too far down the table to make the finals.
