Sharks, Bulls stay in top four as playoff race hots up

There was disappointment again for the Vodacom Stormers and the Vodacom Cheetahs while the Auto & General Lions earned only their third win in Australia.

The Sharks were knocked off top spot in the standings after going down 13-10 against defending champions the Crusaders in a tight encounter at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Saturday. It was the second defeat in as many weeks for the Sharks, which allowed the Chiefs to leapfrog them into pole position after their sixth straight victory. The New Zealanders ran away in the second half to beat the Cheetahs 28-10 in Kimberley on Saturday.

The Crusaders win, meanwhile, keeps them in the running for a semi-final berth.

The Bulls remained in third place despite a heart-breaking 32-31 defeat by the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday. The Bulls earned a bonus point for scoring four tries but were denied a full haul of points via a Brumbies try in the dying minutes of the match.

The result also keeps the Brumbies amongst the playoff contenders.

The Waratahs slipped from fourth to sixth place after they went down 15-14 against the Western Force in a tight derby clash in Sydney. It was the ‘Tahs second successive defeat at home. The result keeps the Force in the top ten and still in contention.

Victories at the weekend for the Hurricanes and the Blues saw them move ahead of the Waratahs in fourth and fifth places respectively. The Hurricanes convincingly beat the Stormers 34-11 in Wellington on Saturday while the Blues won 26-6 against the Highlanders in Auckland on Friday.

Despite the loss the Highlanders are only nine points off the pace and still have an outside shot at the playoffs.

The only SA side to win at the weekend was the Lions, who beat the Reds 31-20 in Brisbane. Wing Henno Mentz ran in a hat-trick of tries to join the Sharks' JP Pietersen and the Chiefs' Sitiveni Sivivatu as the tournament's top try scorers. The win moves the Lions above the Stormers into 11th place.