The New South Wales Waratahs overcame the first-minute loss of England-bound center Kurtley Beale to beat South Africa's Bulls 31-8 in Super Rugby Saturday. A day after signing a multi-million-dollar, two-year deal to join Wasps — reportedly making him the richest player in English rugby — Beale landed awkwardly on his left knee on the newly laid surface at Sydney Football Stadium and was taken off the field on a stretcher. Initial reports suggested he sustained a tendon injury. The Waratahs picked up a bonus point with a try to replacement prop Angus Ta'avao with 90 seconds remaining, moving them into first place in the Australian conference, a point ahead of the ACT Brumbies. It was the third consecutive home win by the Waratahs over a South African opponent. Even without five senior players because of disciplinary suspension, the Wellington-based Hurricanes beat the Queensland Reds 29-14 with a bonus point. The Hurricanes didn't have All Blacks Cory Jane, Julian Savea and Victor Vito, backrower Ardie Savea and prop Chris Eves, who were stood down for one match for breaching team curfew during a recent tour to South Africa. Wes Goosen and Jason Woodward, who replaced Jane and Julian Savea on the wings, shared three tries as the Hurricanes kept their playoff hopes alive with a five-tries-to-one home victory. They remain only a point behind the Crusaders, Chiefs and Highlanders, who are atop the New Zealand conference. While a crumbling scrum and the goalkicking of flyhalf Beauden Barrett remained a concern, the Hurricanes were able to prey on mistakes from the Reds. They conceded six penalties in the first half, two of which were converted into points by Reds fullback Ayumu Gorumaru, but a late try to Coles gave the Hurricanes a 12-6 lead at halftime. Fiji, New Zealand thru Reigning series champion Fiji got off to a winning start at the Paris leg of the World Sevens Series Friday. The Pacific Island nation comfortably beat Scotland 38-12 with French-based pair Josua Tuisova of Toulon and Montauban's Samisoni Viriviri scoring two tries each. Lewis Ormond scored twice for a New Zealand side boasting code-swapping star Sonny Bill Williams as Russia were beaten 35-10. Host France started with a bang as Terry Bouhraoua scored two tries and Fiji-born Virimi Vakatawa shone in a 42-5 win over Canada. Singapore series winners Kenya came back from 14-0 down to beat Portugal 29-14 while there were wins also for South Africa, 24-5 over England, Australia, 38-0 against Brazil, Samoa, who thumped Wales 52-12, and Argentina, who shut out USA 36-0.
