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In round six of Super Rugby Pacific, NSW and Queensland snapped long-standing losing streaks against their opposition.
It proved a rewarding weekend for Australian teams with all four now in the top six on the points table.
In Sydney, the NSW Waratahs snapped a 13-match losing streak to ACT with a 25-23 win in Sydney on Saturday.
The Tahs scored 21 unanswered points to lead by 15 at halftime.
The Brumbies, who played with 14 men for 20 minutes, closed to three points with just over 12 minutes before Max Jorgensen set up centre Joey Walton’s try.
Brumbies winger Andy Muirhead then scored a try but NSW held them out for their first win over the Brumbies since 2018 and the first over them in Sydney since 2015.
The win lifted the Sydney team above the Brumbies to fourth on the ladder.
QLD VS HIGHLANDERS
The scrum allowed the Reds to power their way to a 29-23 win over the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday.
The Reds led 12-0 before they conceded 20 straight points when unforced errors and missed tackles crept in.
The Queenslanders, energised by a bench led by reserve prop and dual international Alex Hodgman lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, turned to their scrum in the second half.
It was their first win at the venue since their inaugural fixture there in 2013 and just the Reds’ third win in New Zealand, against Kiwi opponents, in 27 games.
“Other sides come at you but we are getting better at coming back on track in games,” Kiss said.
“We stretched into our depth but we know we have players who step up.”
In his first game as Reds captain, Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson was inspirational.
He plucked a crucial late turnover with a heads-up play and routinely dented the line, while adding a deft kick ahead that led to the Reds’ decisive final try.
“It’s very special. We’ve talked all week about 2013 and being a side that could re-write the history books there,” Wilson said.
“We were pretty disappointed at halftime, (we) thought we didn’t play our brand of footy. And the scrum changed the game.”
WA VS FIJIAN DRUA
A Nic Dolly hat-trick and a Carlo Tizzano double helped the Western Force to a 52-15 victory over the Fijian Drua in Perth on Sunday.
After a 3-0 start to the season, the Force lost their next three games until they beat up the Drua with eight tries to equal their Super try-scoring record set in 2009.
The Force set up the victory by building a 33-5 lead by halftime.
The win pushed the Force up the competition ladder to sixth.
- In other games, the Christchurch-based Crusaders dented the Auckland-based Blues’ title defence with a 42-19 win at Eden Park while competition leaders and Waikato-based Chiefs a 50-35 victory over Moana Pasifika.
