SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014 SPORTS

Stormers win two in a row Photo of the day CAPE TOWN: Western 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. 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 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. Wilkinson made light of a diffi- his opponents, they are also aware that matches; I have been able to back them up Wilkinson kicked all his side’s cult conversion from out near the Roland Garros is another story for Nadal. time and time again,” the Swiss fourth seed points. For Saracens captain Steve touchline to give Toulon a 7-3 lead. The muscular left-hander carries a said. Borthwick, like Wilkinson, this was And that became 10-3 when, two spine-chilling 59-1 record into this year’s The women’s draw is a bit of a free-for- set to be his penultimate match minutes before half-time, a huge tournament, having lost his only match on all behind the top favorites, holder Serena before retirement. drive by the powerful Toulon pack the Parisian clay in 2009. Williams and last year’s runner-up Maria from a lineout saw Wilkinson land a “I’m far behind Rafa and Novak. They are Sharapova, who could meet as early as the STUTTERING MATCH drop-goal off his weaker, right foot- really above the other players,” Swiss third quarter-finals. The London club appearing in just as he’d done to seal England’s seed and Australian Open champion Stan Williams, champion in 2002, had to wait their first European final of any 2003 World Cup final win over Wawrinka, who won the Monte Carlo title, 11 long years to win her second Suzanne kind, took a second-minute lead Australia in Sydney. told a news conference. Lenglen Cup last June but is determined when Toulon’s former All Blacks Seven points down at the break, “When they are really on the courts they not to hang around that long for a third tri- prop Carl Heyman was penalised Saracens needed to score first in are difficult to fight against.” Djokovic, who umph. for popping up at a scrum. the second half and did so when beat Nadal in the Rome Masters final in “I don’t know what clicked or didn’t Farrell kicked the penalty and Farrell landed a routine penalty three sets last week, believes a grand slam click (on clay). I grew up on hard courts, Saracens led 3-0. Argentina centre after Toulon collapsed a scrum. is a special occasion. and then when I turned 10 I played only Marcelo Bosch, Saracens’ long- However, Wilkinson then kicked “It’s obviously different from the Rome clay until I turned pro,” said Williams, who range kick specialist and Farrell a penalty after flanker and man-of- tournament. It’s a grand slam, a two-week will draw level with Martina Navratilova both saw 45 metre penalty efforts the-match Steffon Armitage had long event, best-of-five (sets). Almost all of and Chris Evert’s haul of 18 majors if she fall short. But with Toulon down to got over the ball at a tackle. the players who are participating in the wins in Paris. “I’m really good now. I’m 14 men after Lobbe was sent to the Toulon then sealed victory with CARDIFF: RC Toulon’ís Juan Smith scores a try during the Heineken event have an extra motivation to perform great. I feel like this is the only place I sin-bin for tackling airborne a match-clinching try on the hour. Cup Final rugby match at the Millennium Stadium. —AP well compared to the other events,” the want to be.”—Reuters Saracens-lock Alistair Hargreaves, France centre Mathieu Bastareaud Battaglin wins Giro stage

OROPA: Enrico Battaglin won the Pozzovivo, however, struggled to 14th stage of the Giro d’Italia yester- maintain the pace and only gained day while overall leader Rigoberto less than 30 seconds on Uran, sec- Uran had a tough day in the moun- ond-placed Cadel Evans and third- tains. placed Rafal Majka. Battaglin pipped fellow Italian Uran, who cracked in the final Dario Cataldo at the end of a 164- metres, leads Evans by 32 seconds km hilly trek from Aglie after being and Majka by 1:35, while Pozzovivo initially dropped by his breakaway sits 2:11 off the pace. “It was a very companions. tough day. There are a lot of other “I am not used to winning that mountain stages and the only kind of stages. At the beginning I standings that will matter are the did not think our breakaway could final standings,” said Uran. go all the way,” Battaglin told BeIN Quintana, who with Pozzovivo Sport. looks the strongest in the moun- Four kilometres from the finish, tains, is 3:04 behind Uran and in in the final category-one ascent, sixth place with five stages in the Italian climber Domenico Pozzovivo mountains left. Today’s 15th stage attacked and among the top con- takes the peloton over 225 km from tenders, only Colombian Nairo Valdengo and Plan Di ITALY: Italian cyclist Enrico Battaglin celebrates his victory as he crosses the finish line of the 14th stage (164 km) of the 7th9 Giro díItalia, Tour of Italy. —AFP Quintana could follow. Montecampione.—Reuters