Lowen on a high to lift Chiefs off bottom

The Waikato Chiefs broke a four-match losing streak yesterday, beating South Africa's Cats 40-9 in the latest round of Super 12 matches to move off the bottom of the table at Rotorua Stadium.

The home side scored five tries to earn a valuable bonus point, leaving the Cats without a point for the second consecutive match in New Zealand. Last weekend they were hammered 65-34 by the Canterbury Crusaders.

Centre Keith Lowen scored two tries on the way to picking up the man of the match award and hooker Shane Carter, stand-off Glen Jackson and captain and flanker Jonno Gibbes scored one each. Gibbes also kicked a drop goal and Jackson finished with 17 points, helping himself to two penalties and three conversions besides his try. The only Cats points came from the boot of Kennedy Tsimba.

Lowen cut through the Cats' defence on several occasions and the Chiefs forwards supported Jackson in the wet and slippery conditions. Prop David Briggs and lock Keith Robinson had strong games in the pack and overshadowed the vaunted Cats pack.

Chiefs coach Kevin Greene said the win, his team's second of the season in eight matches, eased pressure on him and his players. "The plan was to keep it lively, keep the forwards involved, and I think we got the mixture right," Greene said. "We wanted to give more shape to the game after half-time. Defensively it was the best I've seen during my involvement with the Chiefs."

His Cats counterpart, Tim Lane, said his team were poor defensively. "We were soft on the tackle and missed a lot of them. The Chiefs were more committed and showed more intensity."

The Crusaders, the reigning champions, moved into third on the table behind Auckland Blues by coming from 18-13 down with 10 minutes remaining to beat the visiting Sharks 23-13, Sam Broomhall getting the winning try with three minutes left on the clock at Jade Stadium.

Cold and wet conditions made it difficult for both teams. The home side trailed 6-3 at half-time and went further behind in the opening minute of the second half when a quick line-out throw went wrong and Sharks full-back Brent Russell scored from a counterattack.

But the Crusaders worked steadily and displayed patience to grind out three tries by flanker Richie McCaw, replacement full-back Scott Hamilton and Broomhall.

The Sharks dominated the first half and took advantage of the opposing side being a man short for 20 minutes after lock Norm Maxwell and then McCaw were sin-binned. Maxwell took out A J Venter away from the ball and McCaw handled in the ruck after coming in from the side. It was during this time that Trevor Halstead scored the Sharks' second try, but they were unable to hold on to that advantage.

The ACT Brumbies ran in five tries to beat the NSW Waratahs 41-15 at the Canberra Stadium. The Brumbies, dominating early possession, cruised into a 17-3 lead but the Waratahs hit back after a sustained period of pressure and put replacement stand-off Paul Sheedy over.

The Brumbies took a 24-10 lead at the half-time break when they spread the ball wide from a line-out on the New South Wales line to centre Joel Wilson, who moved through some poor defence by Lote Tuqiri and Nathan Grey to give the home side their third try.

The Wellington Hurricanes scored 31 unanswered points in the second half after trailing 15-6 at half-time to beat Otago 37-15. "They were a completely different team in the second half," Highlanders captain Kelvin Middleton said.

In Cape Town, the Auckland Blues beat the Stormers 36-8 to go back on top.