Flyhalf Matt Toomua scored a critical bonus point try two minutes from fulltime Saturday to give the ACT Brumbies a 31-3 win over the Otago Highlanders and keep alive their bid for a Super 14 semifinal place. The Brumbies needed a win and a four-try bonus point from their last home match to stay in the playoff race with one round of the regular season remaining. Toomua's try, which followed others by Rocky Elsom, Salesi Ma'afu and Josh Valentine, lifted the Brumbies to fourth place in the standings and ensured their playoff hopes will be alive when they meet the Canterbury Crusaders in next week's final round. Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles says “the fourth try was a relief more than a delight.” Waratahs back in contention The New South Wales Waratahs put their campaign to reach the playoffs back on track with an emphatic 46-19 win over the Waikato Chiefs in a Super 14 match in Hamilton Saturday. The Waratahs, facing a do-or-die battle after their woeful away loss to the Highlanders last week, scored seven tries and kept their opponents scoreless for an hour to lift themselves into third place in the standings with a round left to go. The Waratahs have a chance to seal a semifinal spot if they can win at home to the Wellington Hurricanes in the last round of matches next week. “It was pleasing obviously coming off our pretty disappointing performance last weekend,” Waratahs flanker Phil Waugh said. Berrick Barnes' shift to flyhalf after spending the last few weeks at inside center proved a masterstroke, the Wallaby playmaker scoring a try and having a hand in several others in a 12-point game with two conversions and a penalty. Bulky winger Drew Mitchell put the Waratahs on the board in spectacular fashion, shimmying between two defenders then chipping the ball from the 22 and charging onto it for a try in the third minute. Number eight Ben Mowen then found a gaping hole in the Chiefs' line to make it 10-0, shrugging off two defenders before planting the ball between the posts twenty minutes later. Hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau was then credited with the Waratahs' third in the first half-hour after the Chiefs' forwards were barged over their own line in a rolling maul at the left-hand corner. Stormers hopes dented In Durban, the Stormers' Super 14 semifinal hopes were dealt a blow when they lost 20-14 to South African rivals the Sharks Saturday. The Cape Town-based Stormers remained second in the standings behind the defending champion Bulls, but could still be overtaken in the last round of the regular season next weekend. The Sharks took advantage of the Stormers' error-filled performance with first-half tries by wing Odwa Ndungane and flyhalf Ruan Pienaar. Flyhalf Peter Grant registered his first try of the season five minutes into the second half to give the Stormers hope, but the visitors failed to play with any of the fluency that saw them hammer seven-time champion Canterbury last week. Pienaar added two more penalties before Francois Louw's last-minute converted try snatched a potentially vital bonus point for the Stormers. Cheetahs beat the W. Force In Bloemfontein, South Africa, the Cheetahs scored four first-half tries, two from wing Bjorn Basson, to beat Australia's Western Force 29-14 Saturday. After drawing with Waikato and beating Auckland, the Cheetahs continued their strong finish to the season when flyhalf Naas Olivier went over after 58 seconds. Scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius also touched down before Basson's impressive double. The Force replied with Ryan Cross' 21st-minute score and a late try from Wallabies flanker James Pocock. It was the last rugby game at Free State Stadium before the handover to FIFA for the football World Cup.
