Super 12 wins for Hurricanes and Crusaders

The Wellington Hurricanes consolidated their Super 12 rugby top four standing with a hard-fought 24-14 win over New Zealander compatriots Waikato Chiefs at Westpac Stadium on Saturday. The result lifted the Hurricanes from fourth to second on the points table, five points behind the competition-leading Blues.

Little separated the Hurricanes and Chiefs - long recognised as the under-achievers of the five New Zealand franchises in the competition. In the end the Hurricanes, noted for their attacking prowess, owed victory to a steadfast defence that generally held firm while the Chiefs dominated possession in the second-half.

The home side nailed a 10-0 lead within 30 minutes after David Holwell kicked a penalty and then converted a try to robust No 8 Rodney So'oialo, who detached from a scrum and found limited resistance in front of him as the Chiefs' defence drifted aside to cover other threats.

This occurred while the Chiefs were down to 14 men after their own No 8 Paul Miller had been sinbinned for 10 minutes by referee Steve Walsh for a professional foul in a ruck. Miller was still off the field as Chiefs skipper Jonno Gibbes scored the first of his team's two tries when he proved too difficult to stop from just short of the tryline. David Hill's conversion left the Chiefs trailing 7-10 at half-time and almost immediately after the break Miller made amends for his earlier indiscretion by crossing the tryline following a series of quick rucks.

After this, a series of substitution calls from Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper turned to gold. Firstly, left wing Brent Ward, who came on in place of All Black Jonah Lomu at half-time, crossed the tryline in the 47th minute after running inside fly half Holwell following a ruck inside the 22. Later, Holwell himself was replaced by Riki Flutey, who notched up a fine try during one of the Hurricanes' few forays deep into Chiefs territory in the second spell. It was Flutey's try which clinched the result for the Hurricanes.

Meanwhile, reigning champions Canterbury Crusaders ended Otago Highlanders' proud home record with a 17-16 victory at Carisbrook. The Highlanders were chasing their 17th straight win at the stadium, the Crusaders having been the last team to beat them there in the 1999 Super 12 final.

Tries from prop Greg Somerville and flyhalf Daniel Carter put the Crusaders ahead 14-6 at the break, but the Highlanders fought back after the break to lead 16-14 when replacement number eight Sam Harding scored a converted try. But Carter, who was playing Colts rugby this time last season and had come into the side in place of injured All Black flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens, kicked the winning penalty five minutes from time.

All Black flyhalf Tony Brown, making his return for the Highlanders after a season out with hamstring trouble, attempted two dropped goals in the dying seconds without success.