Super Rugby

A milestone night for Waratahs fullback Israel Foloau ended on a sour note as his team went down 32-29 to the Blues in a tense clash in Auckland on Saturday night.

The result lifted the Blues to fourth overall and within sight of second in the New Zealand conference.

With his team trailing 22-21 midway through the second half, it was a loose pass from Folau that ultimately proved decisive, allowing Nonu to charge 40m for his team's final try.

Tahuriorangi scored in the 79th minute to give the Chiefs their second win of the season, after thumping the Bulls 56-20 in Pretoria last weekend.

A stop-start opening 40 minutes gave the Chiefs a useful 17-6 halftime lead, the visitors scoring twice through Damian McKenzie and Tumua Manu, after a smart dink - and lucky bounce - from Marty McKenzie to go up by 11.

The Jaguares clawed back the deficit with tries from Joaquin Tuculet and Pablo Matera to level the scores at 20-20 at the end of the third quarter.

Read was making his first appearance this year after an extended off-season but went down for a lengthy spell of treatment on his right leg after about 20 minutes of the first half at Wellington Regional Stadium.

He limped to the next play, a lineout down field where captain Sam Whitelock called him as the target, and saw out the rest of the first half but was replaced at half-time by coach Scott Robertson.

Will Jordan and Braydon Ennor also crossed for the visitors who moved to 24 points on the table, giving themselves some breathing room ahead of the Hurricanes (19) at the top of the New Zealand conference.

Ngani Laumape scored the Hurricanes' only try in the match in which both sides committed numerous errors while the Crusaders defence forced several turnovers when the hosts were on attack.

McReight, the Australian under-20 player of the year in 2018, is tipped as a star of the future set to become a fixture in the Reds backrow.

The former Brisbane Grammar student has been setting competitions alight since making a switch from the centres to become a workaholic openside flanker who became an Australian schoolboys representative at 16.

While he was named in the Reds' squad for the opening match of the season against the Highlanders in Dunedin, McReight did not play and had to wait for his moment.

"It was tough," McReight said of missing out.

The two-time defending champions have been beaten 20-12 by the Waratahs at the Sydney Cricket Ground, ending their winning run at 19.

"It was a tough week but look we're Crusaders, we don't make excuses we just needed to be better in a lot of parts of the game," coach Scott Robertson said.

The teams stood arm-in-arm in a circle on the pitch for a minute's silence in memory of the victims of the Christchurch attack before the start of the match.

The Muslim All Blacks midfielder's trip south means he will miss the Auckland-based franchise's Super Rugby match against the Highlanders at Eden Park on Friday night.

Assistant coach Tom Coventry said the coaches thought it would be a good idea, even before Williams made the request.

"We were going to ask Sonny if he'd like to make the decision to go.

"We were all in agreeance, it was a pretty short conversation.

"We all knew how hard he took it, so it was a simple decision to make."

A proud Muslim, Williams posted to social media on Sunday night saying he would be in Christchurch "later in the week to show love and give donations to the Christchurch Masjids for the people effected in this tragedy".

The Blues confirmed the 51-test midfielder would not play against the Highlanders at Eden Park.
The match would count as one of the two Super Rugby fixtures he must miss as an All Blacks player ahead of this year's World Cup.

Williams' confirmation of his trip to Christchurch followed an emotional video he posted on Friday after the terror attacks.

In light of the Mosque shootings in Christchurch, there have been suggestions that the Super Rugby team should change its name.

The franchise said they'll take on board all concerns.

The Crusaders logo depicts a medieval knight swinging a sword, while horsemen often ride into the Christchurch stadium ahead of matches dressed as medieval knights.

In a statement the franchise says it understands the concerns that have been raised but believes now is not the time to discuss the matter.

The home side held on for a 28-20 victory last night, as they marked last week's death of former prop Mike Tamoaieta with his player number 276 stitched onto the front of their jerseys.

The Sunwolves had won their first match away from home last week against the Chiefs and never let the Blues get too far ahead, but were hampered by second-half yellow cards to fullback Semisi Masirewa and replacement hooker Nathan Vella.