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| It wasn't a good weekend for Kane Barrett. |
It was all about Super Rugby this past weekend as the competition played its final regular season matches. The top six were all secure heading into the weekend but the positioning was still in doubt. The Chiefs secured the top spot in the competition after they controversially beat the Blues 26-16. Blues forward Kane Barrett was sent off for stamping in the 22nd minute with team down 8-5. The Blues climbed back through a Charles Piutau try a few minutes later to bring the scored to 13-13 at halftime. Bundee Aki and Hika Elliott scored for the Chiefs in the opening half. In the second half Ben Kerr was sent to the bin reducing the Blues to 13 men. The Chiefs took advantage and Ben Tameifuna scored what would be the winning try.
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The Bulls will also enjoy a first round bye even though they lost to the Stormers 13-30. Eben Etzebeth, Bryan Habana, and Jean de Villiers all scored for the Stormers. For Habana, it was his last match before heading off to Toulon. Zane Kirchner scored for the Bulls. The Bulls kept their spot thanks to a slip-up from the Brumbies, who lost the Force 21-15. The Force took a 21-10 lead in just the 49th minute. The loss means the Brumbies will face the Cheetahs in Canberra next week. The Cheetahs were the only team to have the weekend off.
The Crusaders will also host a home match next week after they beat the Hurricanes 25-17. Zac Guildford scored only in the second minute to get things started for the Crusaders. Both teams scored three tries but Dan Carter's two conversions and two penalties were the difference. The Crusaders will host the Reds. The Queenslanders beat their rivals the Waratahs 14-12. Cam Crawford and Berrick Barnes scored for the Waratahs. Ben Lucas scored for the Reds while Quade Cooper added three penalties. Lastly, the Rebels ended their season on a high after the narrowly beat the Highlanders 38-37 while the Sharks crushed the Southern Kings 58-13. The Southern Kings will play a home and away match with the Lions in a few weeks to see who players in Super Rugby next season. Click here to see the latest standings.
World Cup Qualifying
Madagascar is quickly becoming known as a place that can pack a rugby crowd after they yet again had tens of thousands of fans turn out for World Cup Qualifying. While it wasn't direct qualification, the top three teams from the CAR Championships would advance to next year's competition with a shot at qualifying for the World Cup. Kenya won the competition this year after beating Uganda in the semi-finals and Zimbabwe in the finals. Zimbabwe had beaten Madagascar in the other semi-final. That means that Madagascar played Uganda for a place in next year's tournament. Madagascar won that match 48-32. Namibia won the lower division and will be the other team competition for a RWC berth next year.
Over in Oceania, the Cook Islands won the right to face Fiji for their World Cup spot after they won the Oceania Cup. They went 3-0 against Papua New Guinia, Solomon Islands, and Tahiti. PNG took second place, Solomon Island third, and Tahiti fourth.