Super Rugby Round 6 Wrap Up

March 08, 2020
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Ultimate Rugby

The Bulls break their duck, the Reds narrowly miss out, Blues kick into gear and the Sharks and Brumbies march on. Super Rugby delivered its usual healthy dose of intrigue, surprise and excitement in an action-packed Round 6.

Sunwolves v Brumbies

In the opening game of the round, the Brumbies build on their lead of the Australian conference with a convincing win over the Sunwolves 47-14. The match was moved from Japan to Wollongong over Coronavirus which is set to have a marked disruption of the Sunwolves' campaign. The Brumbies were imprssive, not letting their opponents into the game and exhibiting patient, solid phase play to put a total of seven tries on the board.

Scorers:

Sunwolves

Tries: Efi Maafu, Mike Stolberg

Conversions: Garth April, Jumpei Ogura

Brumbies:

Tries: Ryan Lonergan, Will Miller, Rob Valetini, Toni Pulu, Tevita Kuridrani, Solomone Kata, Joe Powell

Conversions: Lonergen (5), Reesjan Pasitoa

Crusaders v Reds

Friday's second encounter saw the Reds throw the kitchen sink at the Crusaders with an energetic and spirited attempt to topple the defending champions in Christchurch. The Crusaders managed to see out the victory 24-20 but were made to dig deep in order to avoid defeat. The Reds outscored the Crusaders 4 tries to 3 but were woeful off the kicking tee, missing all their conversions.

Scorers:

Crusaders 24 (10)

Tries: Joe Moody, George Bridge, Leicester Fainga''anuku

Conversions: Richie Mo'unga (3)

Penalty: Mo'unga

Reds 20 (10)

Tries: Chris Feauai-Sautia, Harry Wilson, Taniela Tupou, Henry Speight

Waratahs v Chiefs

The Chiefs left their best for the second half where they ran in 6 tries against the Waratahs to make the final score 51-14. The Waratahs had a 1-point lead when the half-time whistle sounded but were not ready for the onslaught which awaited them in the second stanza.

Scorers:

Waratahs

Tries: Kurtley Beale, Jack Dempsey

Conversions: Will Harrison (2)

Chiefs

Tries: Shaun Stevenson, Brad Weber (2), Sean Wainui, Lachlan Boshier, Solomon Alaimalo, Anton Lienert-Brown

Conversions: Aaron Cruden (3), Kaleb Trask (2)Penalties: Cruden (2)

Hurricanes v Blues

The Blues sent out a message to the rest of the competition that they are, indeed, back to their best with an unexpected 24-15 victory over a stunned Hurricanes outfit in Wellington. The home side's discipline let them down and were forced to play the majority of the second half with 14 men when Tyler Lomax was given a red card for a brutal shoulder to the face of Stephen Perofeta. Things became worse when later on both Jordie Barrett and Vaea Fifita were handed yellow cards in the latter stages. The Blues will be delighted with the victory which ends a nine-match losing streak against the Canes.

CRUCIAL MOMENT | Here is the Red Card call on @hurricanesrugby prop Tyrell Lomax.

After 65 minutes, the Hurricanes lead the Blues 15-14. Switch over to @skysportnz for a nail-biting finale. #HURvBLU pic.twitter.com/7ue2UUGTqR
— Super Rugby (@SuperRugbyNZ) March 7, 2020

Hurricanes

Tries: Ben Lam, Jacobus Van Wyk

Conversion: Jordie Barrett

Penalty: Barrett

Blues

Tries: Akira Ioane, Mark Telea, Penalty Try

Conversions: Otere Black (2)

Penalty: Black

Rebels v Lions

The Rebels came away with a bonus-point win against a lacklustre Lions team in Melbourne. The home side suffered two yellow cards during the course of the game but refused to be perturbed and cooirdinated a strong second-half showing to put the Lions away.

Scorers:

Rebels

Tries: Andrew Kellaway (2), Richard Hardwick, Isi Naisarani, Dane Haylett-Petty

Conversions: Matt Toomua (3)

Penalties: Toomua (2)

Lions

Tries: Jamba Ulengo, Sithembiso Sithole

Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2)

Penalty: Jantjies

Sharks v Jaguares

The Sharks jumped to the top of the overall Super Rugby log with a dominant win over the Jaguares in Durban. Leading by 10 points at the break, the home side employed their enterprising attack uncompromsing defence to strangle the South Americans' attempts. It was the Sharks' first game back at home since their Australasian tour and they now find themselves in a strong position to stake a claim to the play-offs.

Scorers:

Sharks 33 (22)

Tries: Hyron Andrews, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Andre Esterhuizen, Kerron van Vuuren

Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2)

Penalties: Bosch (3)

Jaguares 19 (12)

Tries: Santiago Carreras, Joaquin Tuculet, Sebastian Cancelliere

Conversion: Joaquin Diaz Bonilla

Bulls v Highlanders

The Bulls posted their first win of the season with a resolute victory over the Highlanders in Pretoria in the final game of the round. The Highlanders looked good in the first half, going into the break 10-5 up. Hotstepping winger Rosko Specman scored 3 of the team's 6 tries in a game which saw significant improvements in the Bulls' forward and backline play. Fans will be encouraged by the fact that, once the Bulls foound momentum in the second half, the Highlanders had real difficulty in containing them.

🔥 This is what it means for the Bulls!

FULL HIGHLIGHTS 👉🏽 https://t.co/2RfFm7zW3n #BULvHIG pic.twitter.com/ci5n0MHUyI
— Super Rugby (@SuperRugbyNZ) March 7, 2020