The Chiefs' Brendon Leonard loses the ball under pressure from the Sharks' Stefan Terblanche © Getty Images

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Picture Gallery: Super 14 - Round 1

Stephen Donald landed a last-gasp to give the Chiefs a 19-18 victory over the Sharks in a game spoiled by both the weather and the ineptitude of both sides.

A heavy Durban downpour made life immensely difficult for the players but there was still no legitimate excuse for the lack of quality on show. However, the match did at least feature a somewhat exciting finale.

Trailing by nine points, the Chiefs got themselves right back into the game when Junior Poluleuligaga put Jackson Willison over for the game's only try. Donald added the extras and then, just moments later, put the Chiefs 16-15 up with a penalty with just three minutes to play only to see Rory Kockott post an immediate reply.

However, in the dying seconds the Sharks were caught offside and Donald stepped up again to nick it for last year's runners-up.

The Stormers kicked off their Super 14 campaign with a laboured 26-13 victory over the Lions in a low-quality encounter in Johannesburg.

The visitors played impressively in the first half, racking up tries from Joe Pietersen and Jaque Fourie, but they faded horribly after the interval, failing to add to their tally. The Lions were unable to take advantage of the Stormers' second-half lethargy but they did at least manage a try of their own, through Michael Killian.

The Stormers had looked full of vim and vigour in the opening 40 minutes, with Pietersen kicking the men from Cape Town into a 12-6 advantage before their dominance eventually yielded two tries in the space of five minutes before the break.

Springbok winger Bryan Habana created the first, breaking clear before putting Pietersen away to score with a sublimely-timed pass. Moments later and the men from Cape Town were over again, Fourie scoring against his former team after an excellent spell of possession from the Stormers.

As the two teams walked off at half-time, there only looked like one winner. And so it proved, but only just, as the Stormers inexplicably failed to build on their two-try salvo just before the break. Indeed, in the end, Killian's touchdown proved the only score of a desperately disappointing half of rugby.

The Crusaders took South Island derby honours by beating the Highlanders 32-17 in their season opener, also earning a bonus point in the dying moments of the game.

Michael Hobbs scored all of the Highlanders' points after coming off the bench, but the hosts capitalised on their 10-0 half time lead to secure the victory thanks to tries from Andy Ellis, Jared Payne, flying winger Zac Guildford and replacement Sean Maitland.

During a topsy-turvy second half, Guildford's try put the Crusaders out to an eight-point lead, leaving both teams chasing a score to earn a precious bonus point as the clock ticked down. The Crusaders turned down an easy three-pointer to kick for touch instead, but in their desperation to spread the ball they lost possession to the Highlanders. They too threw the ball about with the length of the field to travel, but a wayward pass left Maitland to crash over after the hooter and send the Christchurch crowd wild.

The Bulls kicked off the defence of their Super 14 crown with a 51-34 bonus point victory over a spirited Cheetahs side in Bloemfontein.

It was a match that nearly had everything, with a try in the first 30 seconds setting the crowd alight before a second-half power lapse sent the ground into darkness. Jaco Pretorius, Morne Steyn, Gerhard van den Heever, Zane Kirchner and Wynand Olivier all crossed for the visitors with a penalty try three minutes from time completing the rout. Steyn also kicked 19 points with the final conversion from Jacques-Louis Potgieter rounding out the scoring.

The Cheetahs had stolen an early advantage with a try from Lionel Mapoe after Jongi Nokwe showed lightning pace to cause an error and retrieve possession from the kick-off. The boot of Naas Oliver ensured they were still in touch at the break. The Bulls powered on in the second half but the Cheetahs closed the gap once more with tries from Juan Smith and Nokwe, the latter being a sweeping effort from one corner of the field to the opposite end. That brought the deficit back to six points and, with the home crowd creating a pulsating atmosphere, an unlikely upset was a possibility until the free-flowing clash was suddenly interrupted for ten minutes after a power failure plunged the stadium into darkness. When play resumed the Bulls closed out the game with their final two tries to ensure a maximum five-point haul.

The Hurricanes made a winning start to this year's campaign with a 34-20 victory over the Blues at North Shore City. Stephen Brett started his new Blues career as a hero but his dream of a winning debut disappeared when his two errors in the second half let the Hurricanes come from behind win. The former Crusader No.10 Brett ghosted through a gap to score the opening try of the season in the fifth minute, kicked a penalty and set up prop John Afoa for another converted try to have the Blues 17-6 ahead after just 18 minutes. Another Brett penalty ahead of half-time saw the Blues take a halftime lead of 20-12, with the Hurricanes' points coming off the boot of first fly-half Willie Ripia.

The first half was a scrappy affair as both sides came to terms with new interpretations of a number of laws, particularly at the tackle. Australian refreee Stu Dickinson dished the penalties out and Auckland were on the wrong side of the ledger as Ripia kept the Hurricanes in touch, despite missing three kickable penalties in the first half. The Blues, with former Hurricane Alby Mathewson having a fine debut game, appeared to dominate proceedings as the Hurricanes' vaunted backline struggled to find rhythm, although All Blacks Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu produced some fine tackles. Ripia closed the gap with a penalty in the 42nd minute and then the game turned on its head.

Brett tried to float a long cut-out pass to Rudi Wulf but powerful Hurricanes wing Hosea Gear snaffled the intercept from 40 minutes out to tie the score. Gear, unwanted by the All Blacks in the latter part of last season, showed he was back to his best with some long runs which the Blues defence had trouble stopping.

Piri Weepu, who had shifted from scrum-half to fly-half in place of Ripia, kicked the easy conversion to give the Hurricanes the lead. A penalty after Aaron Cruden charged down Brett's ill-judged chip kick saw the Hurricanes stretch their lead out to 25-20. With 12 minutes to go , Blues centre Isaia Toeava was shown the yellow card after a tackle infringement and the Blues never recovered. Another three penalties from Weepu saw the Hurricanes outscore the Blues 22-0 in the second half alone.

In Friday's second game, the Brumbies beat Australian rivals Western Force 24-15 at the ME Stadium in Perth. Former Force scrum-half Josh Valentine opened the scoring for the Brumbies when he finished a brilliant breakout instigated by front rowers Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander, with George Smith giving the scoring pass whilst lying on the ground.

The Force's James O'Connor responded for the home side, slotting a penalty to narrow the gap but another piercing run led to Moore strolling over untouched for the visitors' second try. Veteran Stirling Mortlock's conversion gave him exactly 1000 career Super Rugby points, and gave his side a 14-3 lead. O'Connor again cut the margin, with three more penalties and the game remained in the balance at the break.

Mortlock opened the scoring in the second half when he made Nathan Sharpe pay for his infringement at a ruck but O'Connor responded with his fifth penalty ten minutes later to make the score 17-15. A sweeping move down the left hand side by the Brumbies was finished by replacement Huia Edmonds, who bumped off a tackler before crashing over. Mortlock's conversion took his points tally for the match to nine, and his career tally to 1005.