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Super Rugby

Prince William catches the Izzy Folau show and Brodie Retallick goes topless

Gareth Anscombe, meanwhile, left his last-ditch penalty attempt against Crusaders a few, crucial yards short.

CHIEFS OUT-HALF GARETH ANSCOMBE tweeted a picture of his new, pink boots ahead of his team’s Super Rugby clash with the Crusaders.

The pink boots, unfortunately for the son of Ulster coach, Mark, could not help Anscombe as he left a stoppage time penalty three metres short. The failure, from the halfway line, meant Crusaders beat the reigning champions to spark their title challenge into life.

Colin Slade, sporting delightful sideburns this season, kicked all 18 points for Crusaders — still without the injured Richie McCaw — in the narrow win. The 18-17 Crusaders win was played at a frantic pace and neither side backed down from the physical battle. An example of this was Brodie Retallick opting to play on for several minutes despite having his jersey ripped off in a ruck:

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The Sharks opened a six-point break at the top of the league with a South African derby win. The Sharks, seeking a first southern hemisphere inter-provincial championship title under former World Cup-winning coach Jake White, downed the Central Cheetahs 19-8 in Durban to move to 31 points. Jean Deysel’s first Super XV try proved crucial for the table toppers.

The Waratahs leapfrogged Western Force to fourth on the standings following a hard-fought 19-12 win over the Northern Bulls in Sydney.  An Israel Folau try in the opening 28 seconds proved the difference as the Waratahs ended a nine-year losing sequence against the Bulls.

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Folau scored his ninth try of the season on his return from a throat injury to propel the Waratahs to a hard-fought victory in Sydney. The Waratahs, watched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, ended a losing eight-match run against the Bulls in what was their first win over the triple Super Rugby champions since 2005. That is certainly something to raise a toast to:

The victory took the Waratahs to within one point of the ACT Brumbies at the top of the Australian conference, while the Bulls remained second behind the Coastal Sharks in the South African conference.

Western Force’s five-match winning run came to an end following a 22-16 defeat to the a Jason Woodward-inspired Rebels in Melbourne. The Hurricanes improved to seventh just outside the play-off places with a 39-20 win over the Auckland Blues in Wellington. It was the ‘Canes third win in a row after a sluggish start to the season.

In the weekend’s other game, the Western Stormers scored two tries with 14 men to defeat the Golden Lions 18-3 in Cape Town and end a five-match losing streak.

Super Rugby results

  • Hurricanes 39-20 Blues
  • Rebels 22-16 Western Force
  • Chiefs 17-18 Crusaders
  • Waratahs 19-12 Bulls
  • Sharks 19-8 Cheetahs
  • Stormers 18-3 Lions

- Additional reporting © AFP, 2014

Read: ‘We’ll need to be at our very best, and then some, to beat Toulon’ – Rob Penney

Read: Irishman Lydon destined for London after a year of learning at Stade Français

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