FILE …. NSW were run down by Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Saturday. Photo: ANDREW KACIMAIWAI
The Western Force are fourth spot on the Super Rugby Pacific table after a come-from-behind 29-20 bonus-point win over NZ’s Highlanders in Perth on Saturday.
The Force trailed 20-7 at one point in the match before piling on 22 unanswered points to seal the result.
Discipline was a problem for the visitors; Highlanders No. 8 Sean Withy’s yellow card for a knees-first tackle was upgraded to a red card and the side had to play one man down for 20 minutes.
Highlanders winger Jona Nareki’s yellow-card during that period briefly reduced the Highlanders to 13 men.
MOANA RUN WARATAHS RAGGED
Moana Pasifika staged a second-half revival to stun the NSW Waratahs 45-28 in Auckland on Saturday.
The Waratahs led for most of the game and went into the break 21-7 ahead at North Harbour Stadium.
But the composite NZ-based Pacific Island side scored six tries in the second half, including five in 15 minutes, with a hat-trick of tries to tight-head prop Feleti Sae-Ta’ufo’ou.
CHIEFS SHUT REDS DOWN
The Chiefs jumped over the Queensland Reds and into Super Rugby Pacific’s top spot after a torrid 27-15 win in the wet at Hamilton, NZ, on Friday.
Both teams scored three tries as kicking accuracy proved the difference with the score tied 10-10 at halftime.
“It was a sloppy scene out there,” Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson told TV broadcasters.
“We’ve just got to be clinical. It’s tough in weather like this but you don’t make excuses and there was some awesome play out there so we’ve got to be happy.”
Reeds captain and scrumhalf Tate McDermott said the fact his side were a man down had played into his decision to kick for touch rather than take the penalty at 10-10.
“If we had 15 players on the field, we would take the three there,” he said.
“I’ll wear that as the captain; we backed the boys, that’s what we’ve done all year. It didn’t come off and we’ll review why.”
IN OTHER GAMES …
The Crusaders recorded their first win in Fiji over the Drua with a 31-14 victory in Suva on Saturday and overtook the Reds to sit in second place on the table.
Defending champions Blues managed to reverse a form slump with a 19-18 win over the Hurricanes in a Kiwi derby on Saturday.
The ACT Brumbies had the bye.
