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Chiefs and Bulls boost Super Rugby play-off hopes
By Ben Spratt
The Chiefs kept up with the pace in a highly competitive New Zealand Conference as the Bulls also boosted their Super Rugby play-off hopes on Saturday.
It looks increasingly likely that New Zealand will provide four quarter-finalists in this year's tournament and the Chiefs, although second last in the pool, are well placed to be among them.
They went to the Stormers and won 15-9 as Anton Lienert-Brown and a penalty try ended the South African side's unbeaten home run this season.
The hosts failed to cross, despite leading until the 65th minute as Damian Willemse twice kicked penalties.
And the Stormers' defeat allowed the Bulls to put pressure on their South African rivals with a 39-33 success over the Sharks.
Five different scorers touched down for the hosts as they held on despite a late Sharks push through brothers Jean-Luc and Robert du Preez, although the losing side's efforts were not in vain as they too leapfrogged the Stormers with a bonus point.
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Latest Comments
So you have to be an international coach to have an opinion on rugby?
Go to commentsThere is a lot of this being said at the moment but Marcus Smith did miss a couple of drop goals of his own in the first half. Everything is in hindsight and you’d also need to be a brave coach to not make use of your bench replacements in a test.
NZ tried to resist making replacements in the second test against the Boks this year, and fatigued players just ended up making uncharacteristic errors at the end of the match.
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