Chiefs take bite out of Sharks

WELLINGTON: The Waikato Chiefs kept their play-off hopes alive when two tries from captain Brad Weber delivered a 29-23 Super Rugby victory over the Coastal Sharks on Saturday, while the Otago Highlanders hung on to beat the Jaguares.

It moved the Chiefs off the bottom of the New Zealand conference and importantly within two points of making the top eight. The Highlanders who beat the Jaguares 32-27 after holding a 13-point lead at half-time, lie in fifth place overall while the Jaguares slipped back to seventh.

The Sharks, backing up from holding the table-topping Canterbury Crusaders to a draw last week, at least gained a losing bonus point to edge ahead of the Northern Bulls and Jaguares in the South Africa group. The Chiefs, who produced a late burst to draw with the Highlanders last week, again looked out of the contest when they trailed the Sharks 23-17 before producing two tries in two minutes to snatch the result. “I certainly think last week against the ‘Landers helped. We had to go to a deep, dark place to get that so we knew if we stuck at it, it could be ours,” Weber said. Sharks captain Louis Schreuder blamed a momentary lapse of concentration for letting the game slip away.

“Small mistakes, one a linebreak from a lineout and one from a kick off and two tries. That’s what cost us,” he said.

The Chiefs pressured the Sharks line for the first 10 minutes but their only reward was a penalty by Marty McKenzie.

After a concerted defensive effort staved off a relentless Sharks’ attack, hooker Atu Moli led the Chiefs back on attack for Weber to score their opening try to start a flurry of scoring in the closing 15 minutes of the half.