Brumbies and Sharks are the only unbeaten teams in Super Rugby

THE Brumbies and Sharks are the only unbeaten teams in Super Rugby after a round which posed new questions about the strength of New Zealand teams.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 11: Players of the ACT Brumbies celebrate after the round three Super Rugby match between the Western Force and the Brumbies at nib Stadium on March 11, 2016 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)

THE Brumbies and Sharks are the only unbeaten teams in Super Rugby after a third round which posed new questions about the strength of New Zealand teams.

The Brumbies beat the Force 31-14 for their third-straight win which left them atop the Australasian group while the Sharks edged the previously unbeaten Stormers 18-13 to take first place in South Africa.

Behind the conference leaders, five teams have 2-1 records and four teams that had third-round byes are 1-1.

The remaining teams have negative records, including the Reds who are winless after three games and the Sunwolves and Kings who have lost two.

The Stormers, Sharks, Brumbies and Chiefs lead their regional conferences.

The Brumbies continue to be the tournament pacesetters.

They and the Sharks have taken 13 points from their first three games but on the overall table the Brumbies would lead the Sharks on points differential.

The unbeaten duo are three points clear of the Chiefs and Stormers who are 2-1 and have 10 points while the Highlanders and the Lions, also 2-1, have nine.

The Brumbies now face the Stormers in Cape Town and the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in a swing through South Africa which will further test their title-contender aspirations.

“We’ve certainly had a good start to the competition, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to play well in your next game,” coach Stephen Larkham said.

“We’ve got some work to do.

“The set piece tonight was better than last week, but we’ve got a long way to go in this competition. Over the last couple of years, we’ve lost some really tight games, and that’s hurt us in the finals period. The challenge for us is to keep the mindset on the next game.

Flanker David Pocock suffered a broken nose but was able to return to the field late in Saturday’s match and the Brumbies are otherwise unscathed as they head to South Africa.

The Force lost fly half Jono Lance with a broken shoulder.

The Sharks trailed 10-3 at halftime but scored a try through JP Pietersen and were awarded a penalty try as they outscored the Stormers 15-3 in the second half.

The penalty try came in the 54th minute when Stormers flanker Siya Kolisi was ruled to have kicked the ball from the hands of Sharks scrumhalf Cobus Reinach who was about to score.

The Sharks led for the first time on the hour mark when fly half Joe Pietersen kicked a penalty from halfway.

Pietersen added another penalty and two conversions.

Four teams came into the third round with unbeaten records and that number was halved when the Stormers fell to the Sharks and the Lions lost 34-15 at Dunedin to defending champions the Highlanders.

The Highlanders led 10-3 after a tight first half but took the match out of the Lions’ reach with two intercept tries, to winger Matt Faddes and fullback Ben Smith, in four minutes after halftime.

Centre Malakai Fekitoa scored the Highlanders’ fourth try but they were denied a bonus point when the Lions scored late tries through Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Ruan Ackermann.

Japan’s Sunwolves seemed poised for their first Super Rugby when they led South Africa’s Cheetahs 31-3 in Singapore but the Cheetahs stormed back with tries to fly half Niel Marais — his second — and to Uzair Cassiem and Boom Prinslo to win 32-31.

The Rebels went 2-1 with a 25-23 win over the Reds who were playing their first match under a new coaching team after the sacking last week of coach Richard Graham.

Among New Zealand teams the Hurricanes beat the Blues 23-19, the Chiefs beat the Kings 58-24 and the Highlanders beat the Lions.

The match between the Hurricanes and Blues, which started the round, was of poor quality and hinted at the weakness of some New Zealand teams.

The teams created five tries but relied on opportunism to score them and neither appeared to have the stable set piece to score tries from structured play.

The Blues had an overwhelming surplus of territory and attacked the Hurricanes’ line relentlessly in the final minutes but couldn’t find a way to score, even when their opponents were reduced to 14 men.

Originally published as Brumbies and Sharks are the only unbeaten teams in Super Rugby