Pressure is building at the top of the DHL Super Rugby Pacific points table, within the first four sides with two points of each other after six rounds.
The Hurricanes sit atop the table, courtesy of having a game in hand, with 20 points.
The Blues also have 20 points, but have their bye in round eight. The Brumbies, who beat the Chiefs at the weekend, are on 19 points and also facing a round eight bye. The Reds, who beat the Drua, are on 18 points.
Defending champions, the Crusaders strung a second win together to beat Moana Pasifika, while the Chiefs’ loss to the Brumbies left them sixth on 13 points.
In round seven, Moana Pasifika (11th) will host the Highlanders (8th), the Brumbies meet the Waratahs (7th), the Hurricanes are at home to the Reds, the Blues host the Drua (9th), and the Force (10th) host the Chiefs.
Results from Round Six were:
Highlanders 7 Hurricanes 50
Highlanders’ fullback Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens’ early try suggested a closer contest than resulted against the Hurricanes in Dunedin. As well as it was put together, it wasn’t something the home team could repeat, and that was down to poor ball control. They struggled at lineouts, losing four to the lock Warner Dearns’ height and ability in securing the ball. Handling errors also hindered the Highlanders. While still in the game at 7-19 down at half-time, the Hurricanes lifted the tempo and took advantage of their 24 per cent advantage in possession, and the Highlanders were unable to keep up.
Halfback Cam Roigard got the Hurricanes' response going, eight minutes after the Highlanders scored ,with tries in the 14th and 21st minutes. Wing Fehi Fineanganofo scored the first of his hat-trick in the 34th minute. Flanker Devan Flanders crossed in the 50th minute while replacement centre Bailyn Sullivan scored at his first touch as the Hurricanes ran the ball at every opportunity, with Fineanganofo scoring in the 62nd and 70th minutes before loosie Peter Lakai capped the scoring with his full-time try. Being hard-hit by injuries, there was little the Highlanders could do as they made 170 tackles compared to the 72 the Hurricanes required. Second five-eighths Jordie Barrett (17), Lakai (15), centre Billy Proctor (14) and Fineanganofo (12) all made more carries than the Highlanders’ best Ratumaitavuki-Kneepens and second five-eighths Timoci Tavatavanawai, who made nine each.
Highlanders 7 (Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens try; Reesjan Pasitoa con) Hurricanes 50 (Cameron Roigard 2, Fehi Fineanganofo 3, Devan Flanders, Bailyn Sullivan, Peter Lakai tries; Ruben Love 5 con). HT: 7-19
Brumbies 33 Chiefs 24
Hammering the Brumbies’ line, the Chiefs side had their chances to snatch a win in Canberra, but desperation was their enemy as a goal-line pass was intercepted by home wing Corey Toole, with vast unoccupied acreage in front of him. The speedster was unchallenged in a length-of-the-field sprint that killed the Chiefs and, adding insult to injury, denied them a loser’s bonus point as well. They will look back and wonder how they let a 7-24 lead evaporate in a four-try Brumbies’ final quarter blitz. Chiefs fullback Liam Coombes-Fabling ran a lovely line to score his first in the 17th minute, and backed that up with a timely entry into the line for his second five minutes later.
The Brumbies had opened the scoring with second five-eighths Hudson Creighton scoring from a 5th-minute goal-line maul. The only significant statistics that hinted at where the Chiefs came undone were the Brumbies' 97-84 advantage in rucks and mauls won, and the 147 tackles they had to make, compared to the Brumbies' 127. In all other respects, this was a game the Chiefs could normally have expected to win. But when halfback Ryan Lonergan prised open a scoring gap in the 59th minute, No8 Charlie Cale (64th) and first five-eighths Declan Meredith (70th) followed up with tries to give them a lead that was secured with Toole’s last-minute steal.
Brumbies 33 (Hudson Creighton, Ryan Lonergan, Charlie Cale, Declan Meredith, Corey Toole tries; Lonergan 4 con) Chiefs 24 (Liam Coombes-Fabling 2, Damian McKenzie tries; McKenzie 3 con, pen). HT: 7-17
Drua 6 Reds 21
Playing with a chance to achieve three consecutive wins for the first time, the Drua failed to grasp their chances, going down to a Reds team in Lautoka looking for their fourth consecutive win. The Reds proved more accurate in their handling and creation of chances. They ended with three unanswered tries while the home team’s scoring was confined to two first-half penalty goals. The Reds' first try came in the 24th minute after wing Filipo Daugunu tidied up lost ball by the Drua. He set in action a 50-metre move that ended with halfback Kalani Thomas scoring behind the posts. The Drua had their best chance to score a try in the final play of the first half, but two dropped passes, both with the goal-line open, reflected their desperation.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, the Reds, who were about to get fullback Jock Campbell back from the sin bin, launched a midfield attack with No8 Harry Wilson charging through to be tackled in the 22m area. First five-eighths Harry
McLaughlin-Phillips went into halfback, then slipped around the ruck to run 15m to score. Eighteen minutes short of full-time, the Reds sealed their win by going to their lineout maul, where replacement hooker Richie Asiata was the try recipient. Despite having to make 152 tackles to the Drua's 100 and missing 30 of them, the Reds still made more effective use of their 12 line breaks to the Drua's four to claim a bonus point win.
Drua 6(Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula 2 pen) Reds 21(Kalani Thomas, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, Richie Asiata tries; McLaughlin-Phillips 3 con). HT: 6-7
Moana Pasifika 21 Crusaders 50
No sooner had Moana Pasifika lost second five-eighths Julian Savea in his first start of the season to an arm injury in the third minute at Albany than the Crusaders struck with centre Braydon Ennor powering over for a try in the corner. They demonstrated the danger of their across-the-field support play when right-wing Chay Fihaki was on the opposite flank to hand off to left-wing Sevu Reece for a 17th-minute try. Moana Pasifika responded through clever work by wing Millennium Sanerivi and skipper and flanker Miracle Faiilagi, whose in-pass allowed replacement midfield Tevita Ofa to score in the 21st minute. Seven minutes later, they claimed the lead when centre Lalomilo Lalomilo split the Crusaders’ backline and fed halfback Joel Lam to run in the try. The Crusaders’ lineout did the work in the 34th minute to lay up first five-eighths Cooper Grant to lob a chip to the corner, where wing Chay Fihaki made no mistake to catch and score.
Once replacement midfield Leicester Fainga’anuku broke the half-time impasse with a stunning 40m run, shaking off several tackles, to score in the 50th minute, the Crusaders opened the floodgates. Prop Fletcher Newell’s scything run inspired hooker George Bell’s try three minutes later. Bell scored again before Fihaki scored another, and replacement fullback Kurtis Macdonald capped the effort with a try on debut. Moana Pasifika’s replacement, Siaosi Nginingini, picked off an intercept to complete the scoring.
Moana Pasifika 21 (Tevita Ofa, Joel Lam, Siaosi Nginingini tries; Patrick Pellegrini 3 con) Crusaders 50 (Braydon Ennor, Sevu Reece, Chay Fihaki 2, Leicester Fainga’anuku, George Bell 2, Kurtis Macdonald tries; Cooper Grant con; Fihaki 4 con). HT: 14-17
Waratahs 20 Blues 35
The Waratahs’ missed opportunities in the first half in Sydney allowed the Blues room to find form and unleash second-half dominance for a win that proved easier than it should have been. After halfback Finlay Christie scored from a third-minute ruck, the Waratahs controlled most of the half. Yet, aside from tries by first five-
eighths Jack Debreczeni in the 32nd minute and prop Daniel Botha in the 41st, they squandered at least four more chances due to handling errors or being held up. The Blues' defence was suffocating.
Down 8-17 at half-time, they went back to their forward power to break down the Waratahs’ confidence. The Blues achieved 22 tackle breaks to 14, while the Waratahs conceded 13 penalties to six, and 19 turnovers to nine. Lock Josh Beehre, replacement props Mason Tupaea and Marcel Ranata, and replacement flanker Torian Barnes upped the ante with strong carries, while replacement halfback Taufa Funaki lifted the tempo that allowed the Blues backs more opportunities to play their game. Wing Codemeru Vai started the recovery that saw the Blues score 27 unanswered points in the final 30 minutes. Centre AJ Lam scored in the 57th and 74th minutes, while Barnes scored the last on full-time to secure a try bonus point for the Blues.
Waratahs 20 (Peter Debreczeni, Tom Lambert tries; Sid Harvey 2 con, 2 pen) Blues 35 (Finlay Christie, AJ Lam 2, Codemeru Vai tries; Beauden Barrett 2 con, 2 pen). HT: 17-8