WELLINGTON: The New South Wales Waratahs tested the offside boundaries with spectacular results as they revived their Super 15 title defence hopes by inflicting the first defeat of the year on the Wellington Hurricanes.
The 29-24 victory propelled the Waratahs to within three points of Australian conference leaders ACT Brumbies, who suffered a setback when beaten by the lowly Melbourne Rebels.
The Hurricanes remain at the head of the table but with just a one-point buffer over the Waikato Chiefs in the New Zealand conference.
In the only change to the top six order, the Northern Bulls edged past the Brumbies into second place, while the Chiefs, Otago Highlanders and Western Stormers remained in the fourth to sixth slots.
The defending champion Waratahs were the big movers, rising from 10th to seventh as their close-call rush defence overwhelmed the Hurricanes.
The game was an eight-try extravaganza, with both sides scoring four and a bonus point, and the outcome hinged on referee Glen Jackson and his assistants' interpretation of the offside law as the Waratahs defence stepped up quickly to shut down the Hurricanes running game.
"It's our job to test the boundaries and test the referee and the lawmakers and their interpretations," said Waratahs assistant coach Daryl Gibson, adding there needed to be clearer reference points to where players should be.
Policing the offside line "is an area of the game that needs to be addressed. Everyone wants more space to play in," he said.
Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith said he had appealed to referee Jackson to keep an eye on the offside line, but could not argue with the tactic.
- 'All or nothing'
"You talk about a rush defence, I think it's the beauty of rugby. Teams can try and do that, but there is always an answer. It presented us with opportunities," Smith said.
"It's an all or nothing play, if they stop you it's good, but if we'd recycled, and at times we did, it made it easier to attack as well."
The Bulls maintained their two-point lead over the Stormers in the South African conference when Handre Pollard kicked four penalties to secure a 17-10 victory over the Coastal Sharks.
It was a come-from-behind effort after the Sharks led 10-8 lead early in the second half.
Despite the Rebels' heroics in snapping the Brumbies 11-match home winning streak with a 13-8 triumph at Canberra Stadium, they remain anchored in 11th place.
In trying conditions on a wet night points were hard to come by. The Rebels led 13-5 at half-time with a penalty by Brumbies fly-half Christian Lealiifano 23 minutes into the second half the sole points after the break.
The Chiefs, coming off a bye, dominated a listless Canterbury Crusaders 26-9 in Christchurch.
The Crusaders, the most successful franchise in Super rugby history, are now 10th in the standings and in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
The Highlanders produced their sixth win from eight games with a 30-24 win over the Auckland Blues, the Western Stormers toppled the Western Force 13-6 and the Queensland Reds scored their second win of the year, 18-17 against the Central Cheetahs.
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