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Chiefs flattered, Bulls floored
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The Chiefs opened their Super 15 title defense with a flattering win while underdogs Otago Highlanders stole the spotlight as the first full round exposed the pre-season hype.
With the Australia and New Zealand teams firing up, a week after the South Africans, the defending champions Waikato Chiefs survived on scant possession to produce an 18-10 win over the Canterbury Crusaders.
The Highlanders and Reds also started on a winning note while the Coastal Sharks and Golden Lions went two from two and the Central Cheetahs registered their first win, inflicting a second defeat on the Northern Bulls.
The NSW Waratahs rounded off the weekend when they piled on 43 points against the Western Force to go to the head of the Australian conference.
The Chiefs produced a defensive effort to hold out the Crusaders, who fell victim to their own repeated errors which included gifting a late intercept try to deny themselves a bonus point.
The Chiefs get a chance to show how rapidly they can improve next week when they face the unfancied Highlanders who pulled off the surprise of the weekend with a 29-21 win over the Auckland Blues.
The four-try bonus-point win put the Highlanders in the unaccustomed position of heading the New Zealand conference after they led the Blues 24-0 at half-time and held off the Aucklanders’ spirited second-half comeback.
The Sharks and fly-half Patrick Lambie continued their good starts to the season with a 27-9 victory over the Wellington Hurricanes in Durban.
Lambie, who contributed 16 points in last week’s 31-16 win over the Bulls, went one point better against the New Zealanders with 17 from five penalties and a conversion.
The Sharks head the table with nine points, one more than the unbeaten Lions who stunned the Western Stormers 34-10 in Johannesburg with an outstanding display of goal-kicking by stand-in fly-half Marnitz Boshoff.
Boshoff, filling in for the injured Elton Jantjies, contributed 29 points from six penalties, three drop goals and a conversion to reach the 50 mark just two rounds into the season.
The Stormers, winners of all nine previous Super rugby clashes with the Lions, had far more possession but could breach the magnificent defence only once.
The Cheetahs registered their first win of the season and their first ever win over the Bulls with a 15-9 victory in wet Bloemfontein. Former champions Bulls owed many past victories to Morne Steyn, and the Pretoria outfit are finding it hard to replace the goal-kicking skills of the now Paris-based fly-half.
In Australia, Wallaby star Israel Folau scored a dazzling hat-trick of tries as the Waratahs thrashed the Force 43-21 in a bonus point win. The Queensland Reds showed great resilience away to fight off the ACT Brumbies for a 27-17 win.
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