Saturday 2 March 2019 17:54, UK
The Sunwolves claimed their first away win in Super Rugby, the Crusaders made it 18 wins on the trot, while the Bulls heaped more misery onto the Lions.
Chiefs 15-30 Sunwolves
Japan's Sunwolves claimed their first away win in Super Rugby when they beat two-time champions the Chiefs 30-15 in a third-round match at Hamilton, New Zealand.
The Sunwolves were winless in 24 away matches over their first three seasons but ended that record at Waikato Stadium with only their second-ever win over a New Zealand team.
Both teams came into the match without a win this season: the Sunwolves lost at home to South Africa's Sharks and Australia's Waratahs while the Chiefs lost to the Highlanders in round one, before a crushing 54-17 loss to the Brumbies last weekend.
Fly-half Hayden Parker was faultless off the tee as the Sunwolves capitalised on their scoring opportunities. Openside flanker Shuhei Matsuhashi, lock Uwe Helu and winger Gerhard van den Heever all crossed for the Tokyo-based side, who had won just six games in their three previous seasons of Super Rugby.
Parker slotted five from five with the boot as the Sunwolves dominated possession and territory in the first half and ensured they capitalised on Chiefs' errors and turnovers.
Centre Alex Nankivell and winger Etene Nanai-Seturo both scored tries for the twice champions Chiefs, who have now lost all three of their games this season and face an uphill battle to get into playoff contention.
Reds 12-22 Crusaders
The Crusaders claimed their 18th straight win with a convincing win over the Reds on Saturday.
The Crusaders should have won by a much bigger margin given the amount of possession and attacking opportunities they had but All Blacks fly-half Richie Mo'unga was strangely off key and struggled to stamp any authority on the game.
The visitors, who destroyed the Wellington Hurricanes last week with a fast start, repeated the intent as they stretched the Reds by getting quick ball at the breakdown.
Their first-half scoring, however, was restricted to just tries from full-back Braydon Ennor and winger Will Jordan inside the first 10 minutes.
The full-back's five-pointer was the most spectacular as it came from the restart following Ennor's seventh-minute try.
They flung the ball wide and when Hamish Stewart misread a tackle on Jack Goodhue, the centre was able to free Jordan, who ran 40 metres before he fed Ennor and then stayed in support to take the return pass and score his first Super Rugby try.
The home side slowly got back into the game and Kerevi was able to put his side on the board after a series of thrusts close to the line opened up space for him to crash over.
The Crusaders forwards then went up a gear in the second half and with captain Matt Todd sensing they had the Reds under pressure, turned down kickable penalties and went for attacking lineouts or scrums to score tries.
Douglas crashed over in the 49th minute, while Taufua scored when Salakaia-Loto was off the field.
Reds flanker Liam Wright had a try ruled out under review for a potential tackler being taken out before Higginbotham scored with five minutes remaining.
Lions 12-30 Bulls
Fly-half Handre Pollard kicked six penalties and a conversion as the Bulls claimed a handsome victory at Ellis Park and ended the Lions home dominance over fellow South African sides that had stretched back to 2015.
Pollard controlled the game and punished numerous errors from the Lions, who have now lost back-to-back matches as they seek a fourth Super Rugby final appearance in a row.
Number eight Duane Vermeulen and full-back Warrick Gelant crossed for tries for the visitors, with Pollards boot providing a healthy lead for the final hour of the contest.
The Lions also scored two tries through props Carlu Sadie and Dylan Smith, but their ineffective backline failed again, with all their seven tries this season coming from forwards.
Sharks 11-16 Stormers
Damian Willemse scored an early intercept try as the Stormers claimed a narrow 16-11 Super Rugby victory over an ill-disciplined Sharks side at King's Park on Saturday.
It was the first defeat of the season for the fancied Sharks, while the Stormers celebrated their first away win in 10 attempts, making it back-to-back victories to erase the memory of their opening round 40-3 humiliation by the Bulls.
Wing SP Marais also kicked three penalties for the visitors, while the only try scored by the error-prone hosts came from centre Lukhanyo Am.
The Sharks had looked the best of the South African sides in the opening two weeks of the season, but had a dismal first half in which they conceded the intercept try, gave away numerous penalties and had two players sent to the sin-bin.
