SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014 SPORTS Stormers win two in a row Photo of the day CAPE TOWN: Western Stormers won suc- through a Van Wyk try and a conversion cessive Super 15 matches for the first time and penalty from fly-half Kurt Coleman. this season by outplaying Central Cheetahs Those scores coupled with the Fourie try 33-0 yesterday in awful Cape Town condi- made up the first-half total for Stormers, tions. who suffered a late, pre-match blow when The home side were ahead within five centre and Springboks skipper Jean de minutes when hooker Deon Fourie barged Villiers withdrew injured. over at Newlands stadium, led 15-0 at half- A reason why traditional play-offs con- time, and were rarely under pressure. tenders Stormers have battled this season A bonus-point victory for scoring four is a long casualty list and stand-in captain tries lifted the Cape Town franchise two and flank Schalk Burger quit at half-time places to 11th while the Cheetahs dropped nursing a sore neck. one place to 13th on the combined stand- Fellow Springbok Siya Kolisi took his ings. place and scored the third try with 10 min- Wind, rain, cold and a slippery pitch utes left after penalties by Coleman and his ensured the South African derby was never replacement, Peter Grant, had put the going to be a classic and while Stormers game beyond Cheetahs’ reach. executed the basics well, Cheetahs were Grant converted the third try and after woeful. Stormers lock Michael Rhodes was sin- Cheetahs skipper and hooker Adriaan binned for hair-pulling, New Zealand-born Strauss was yellow-carded midway through left-wing Sailosi Tagicakibau dotted down the first half for a dangerous tackle on to complete the rout. right-wing Kobus van Wyk and his 10- Stormers are away to leaders Coastal minute absence proved expensive. Sharks in Durban next weekend while Stormers used their numerical advan- Cheetahs have a bye in the final round tage to score 10 unanswered points before a June break for Test matches.—AFP Hurricanes stun Chiefs WELLINGTON: The counter-attacking In his battle with Barrett to determine skills of the Wellington Hurricanes who will be named next weekend as the knocked the defending champion Waikato All Blacks pivot in place of the unavailable Chiefs out of the Super 15 top six with a Dan Carter, it was Barrett who made the stunning 45-8 victory here yesterday. most of his chances, and converted all six The long-range specialists ran in six tries as well. tries for a bonus-point win that propelled Battling into a stiff southerly breeze in them up to fourth place on the tightly- the first half, the Hurricanes toyed with packed leader board, where only four the stilted Chiefs defence with Andre points separate the second-placed NSW Taylor scoring first, ending a 60-metre Participants start during the Wings for Life World Run in Kakheti, Georgia.— www.redbull.com Waratahs and now seventh Chiefs. move ignited by All Blacks wing Julian The Hurricanes, bouncing back from a Savea. Fellow All Blacks flyer Corey Jane loss to the Otago Highlanders last week, sparked the second try from inside the have now won six of their past eight Hurricanes’ half before off-loading to Toulon retain European Cup games after starting the year as one of the Barrett who took play up to the line where least fancied sides. prop Ben Franks loomed up to finish the They laid the ground work for the rout move. Centre Alapati Leiua started off the CARDIFF: Jonny Wilkinson’s final playing into the wind in the first half when third try scoring move, which Savea fin- match in Britain ended in joy for they stunned the Chiefs with three tries ished off. the England great as reigning that originated inside their own half. The Chiefs, who had used the wind to champions Toulon beat Saracens Despite the Hurricanes leading the kick for territory in the first half, had scant 23-6 in the European Cup final at competition in clean breaks and defend- reward with only a penalty to Gareth Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium yes- ers beaten, the Chiefs seemed unprepared Anscombe and a try to Liam Squire during terday. Toulon captain Wilkinson 13 for their ability to attack from afar. his brief cameo as a blood-bin replace- points in a match where the star- As the tries mounted against them, the ment for Sam Cane. studded French side scored tries confidence waned in the two-times cham- After a Barrett penalty extended the through Australia’s Matt Giteau and pion Chiefs whose reputation for piling on lead to 24-8 soon after half-time, Savea South Africa’s Juan Smith. the points in the second half was left in scored the bonus-point try from another All Saracens had to show for tatters and their brief scoring completed long-range effort in which Barrett, twice, their efforts were two penalties very early in the match. Jane and Leuia all handled in a move that from Owen Farrell, Wilkinson’s cur- Not even the return of fly-half Aaron swept half the field. They Hurricanes then rent successor as England fly-half. Cruden, after a lengthy spell sidelined showed they could score from close range Victory meant Toulon, who with a broken thumb, could ignite the with forwards Jack Lam and Brad Shield edged out French rivals Clermont Chiefs. In his battle. both driving over. —AFP 16-15 in last season’s final, became only the third team after England’s Leicester and Irish province Leinster to retain the European Cup. Nadal still the man to beat This win also kept Toulon on course for a ‘double’ ahead of next PARIS: If this season’s records are supposed Serbian second seed, who has never won weekend’s French Top 14 final with to provide an indication to the man who the French Open, said. Castres. That match is now set to be will be crowned ‘king of Roland Garros’, Besides Djokovic, whom he could meet Wilkinson’s last after he announced Rafa Nadal’s hopes of winning a record- in the final, Nadal has a possible semi-final his retirement earlier this week. “It’s CARDIFF: RC Toulon’s Jonny Wilkinson lifts the trophy after winning the Heineken Cup Final at the extending ninth French Open title could be match against Wawrinka, the man who a hell of a feeling,” said Wilkinson, Millennium Stadium. —AP in jeopardy. defeated him in the Australian Open final. for whom this win marked an early they revitalised a stuttering match started the move with an outside 23-6 when, after Farrell’s late hit on For the first time in a decade, the world Everyone has been warned, however, birthday present-he turns 35 today. with their first try. In the build-up to break before passing to Smith, who Springbok wing Bryan Habana, he number one lost three matches on red dirt that Nadal is feeling better after a patchy “I am proud to be part of this this match Saracens coach Mark took the ball brilliantly one-handed landed a 40-metre penalty. There in the build-up to the claycourt major and start to the claycourt season. “The dynamic team and be part of this. The sea- McCall had highlighted Giteau as a behind him. Former Springbok was no way back for Saracens and a the Spaniard could have to beat all three is positive, it’s true, so that’s always impor- son has one more week to go, I will dangerman and he was proved Smith exchanged passes with crowd of nearly 68,000 cheered conquerors - Nicolas Almagro, David Ferrer tant for the confidence. I felt that in Rome I take this with me forever.” right in the 29th minute. Wilkinson Lobbe in a neat one-two before Wilkinson to the echo when Toulon and Novak Djokovic - if he is to successfully was able to play without that anxiety that I Saracens also have a shot at switched play with an inside pass crossing for a fine try. coach Bernard Laporte, the former defend his title on June 8. played with in the first two tournaments domestic glory as next Saturday to Giteau, whose clever chip kick Wilkinson duly converted to France boss, replaced him late on Nadal also admitted to suffering jitters and some moments in Madrid, too,” Nadal sees them playing Northampton in into space saw Drew Mitchell beat make it 20-6 and that soon became with Maxime Mermoz.—AFP following his quarter-final exits at the explained. the English Premiership final. Saracens full-back Alex Goode to Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Former world number one Roger Under the closed roof of the the high bouncing ball. Former Open, by Ferrer and Almagro respectively, Federer, who won the last of his record 17 Millennium Stadium, Toulon once Wallaby wing Mitchell then passed and those results proved that Nadal was no grand slam titles at Wimbledon in 2012, more looked to get the better of out of the tackle to the supporting longer the indestructible force that he once believes he is in top shape. Saracens following their 24-12 Giteau, who’d followed up his own was on clay. “I feel very strong. That’s how I feel. It’s semi-final win over the London kick, and the centre raced in for a While the results have offered hope to been really solid in practice; no setbacks in club last season-a match where try.