The Bulls' Bryan Habana dives in to score against the Force at Loftus Versfeld © Getty Images

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News: Injury woes stack up for Springboks

Features: Does Super 14 need South Africa?

Matches: Stormers 14 - 28 Chiefs | Bulls 32 - 29 Force | Sharks 23 - 15 Highlanders | Queensland Reds 13 - 52 Brumbies | Cheetahs 10 - 18 New South Wales Waratahs | Lions 20 - 32 Crusaders

Tournaments/Tours: Super 14

Teams: Australia | Brumbies | Bulls | Chiefs | Crusaders | Force | Highlanders | Lions | New Zealand | Sharks | South Africa

That latest round of action in this year's Super 14 kicked off on Friday with the leaders, the Hurricanes, securing a bonus-point win over their New Zealand rivals the Blues in Wellington in our Game of the Week.

In the last game of the weekend, the Chiefs climbed into second place with a 28-14 defeat of the Stormers in Cape Town. An emphatic win at Newlands was capped by a bonus point fourth try by centre Richard Kahui with three minutes remaining which lifts them past the Bulls on points differential and sets up a high-stakes match against the competition-leading Hurricanes at Waikato Stadium on Saturday.

Wins over the Cheetahs and Stormers and a narrow loss to the third-placed Bulls last week represents a good return for coach Ian Foster's men in the republic. Their latest display against an injury-ravaged Stormers was the best of them, with halfback Toby Morland grabbing two tries as the half-time score of 14-7 was doubled by game's end.

The Stormers were set back when they lost two Springboks to injury in the first half -- fullback Conrad Jantjes and flanker Schalk Burger. Jantjes was stretchered off with what appeared to be a broken leg in the ninth minute resulting in a lengthy delay. At the heart of the Chiefs' win were further powerful showings from loose forwards Liam Messam and Sione Lauaki.

Elsewhere on Satuday, The Bulls won a pulsating encounter with the Force at Loftus Versfeld, the pinpoint kicking of fly-half Morne Steyn seeing them home 32-29 despite being outscored four tries to three by their Australian visitors. The Bulls looked to be in charge thanks to first half tries from Bryan Habana, Werner Kruger and Zane Kirchner before the Force mounted a spirited comeback in the later stages.

Drew Mitchell had crossed early on before the Bulls took charge but it was Cameron Shepherd and Josh Tatupu who drew the Force back in to contention. When Steyn was sent to the sin-bin the visitors looked to be in with a shout of stealing the spoils before a penalty from Burton Francis opened up a 10-point lead. Ryan Cross scored late on for the Australian side, But after Matt Giteau converted they were unable to find the killer blow.

In Durban, The Sharks held out to defeat a determined Highlanders side 23-15 at Ellis Park thanks to tries from lock Steven Sykes and flanker Jacques Botes.

The Sharks may have a worry for coming matches with Rory Kockott seeing red for a punch on Highlanders flanker Adam Thomson, the scrum-half having earlier landed 13 points for his side with the boot. Kockott's marching orders came in the final throes of a game that the Sharks had dominated in parts but failed to capitalise upon.

The Highlanders provided thorny opposition and scored tries of their own through skipper Jimmy Cowan and replacement Jason Rutledge, but the game will likely be remembered for a fiery final act where Highlanders centre Daniel Bowden and Sharks replacement Keegan Daniel both saw yellow for dangerous tackles either side of Kockott's red card. Victory leapfrogs the Sharks firmly back in to playoff contention despite their recent dip in form.

Earlier, the Brumbies ran in seven tries on their way to a thumping 52-13 win over the Reds at Suncorp Stadium.It was centre Gene Fairbanks who put the Brumbies in control, finishing off some patient build-up by ducking under a tackle to score from close range. The struggling home side were further behind before half-time, with first Peter Kimlin and then scrum-half Patrick Phibbs exploiting some lazy tackling before Brumbies skipper Stephen Hoiles was put clear to score their second try.

Kimlin was not long out of the spotlight, using some fine decoy work from Stirling Mortlock to dissect the Reds defence for a 24-3 lead. The scoring for the half was not finished, as just before the hooter Reds scrum-half Will Genia provided a spark by breaking clear from a ruck and eluding Mortlock to score.

Genia was straight back into the action, bursting out of the traps in the second period with his second try and putting watching Wallabies coach Robbie Deans on notice. Cooper was wayward with the conversion and the Brumbies were soon celebrating their bonus point try however. Prop Ben Alexander powered over from 10 metres out, Reds lock Van Humphries isolated in trying to stop the powerful front-row by more laziness from his team-mates. Alexander also had a big hand in their fifth try, producing a subtle offload to send Adam Ashley-Cooper over after a deft kick from George Smith. Hoiles added a sixth after some basketball style handling before Francis Fainifo raced clear to wrap up the Brumbies' biggest win in Brisbane.

On Friday, the Waratahs made hard work of defeating the Cheetahs in in Bloemfontein, Lachie Turner and Luke Burgess securing the points in an 18-10 win against a spirited home side with only pride to play for.

It took until the 25th minute for the Waratahs to unlock the Cheetahs defence, Turner rescuing some poor passing with a powerful surge to the line after his centres had created a three-man overlap. Dan Halangahu and Kurtley Beale provided an interesting pair at 10 and 12, Halangahu dabbing through for Beale to score only for Heinrich Brussow to illegally take out Beale. From in front of the sticks Halangahu made no mistake for an 8-0 half-time lead.

Cheetahs fly-half Naas Olivier drew three points back for his side shortly after the break before some poor decision making allowed the Waratahs to stretch their lead. After the Cheetahs had turned down a penalty attempt and turned over possession a midfield burst from Tom Carter, slicing through some disorganised defence, created the space for replacement scrum-half Luke Burgess to score.

The Cheetahs had the final say in the game, winger Danwel Demas breaking clear of the Waratahs defence before finding JW Jonker inside. Jonker pulled out an excellent step to beat the final defender and score under the posts.

Earlier, the Crusadersthen kept alive their slim hopes of a Super 14 playoff place with a 32-20 bonus-point victory over the Lions in Johannesburg. After a surprise loss to the Cheetahs last time out Todd Blackadder's men needed a boost, although their victory was attained without talismanic skipper Richie McCaw who missed out with concussion.

The visitors struck first from a counter-attack with winger Colin Slade swapping passes with lock Isaac Ross who dived over out wide. The Lions then scored twice in seven minutes to take the lead; halfback Jano Vermaak following up when Slade couldn't tidy a kick through, then debut flanker Johan van Deventer dashing 25m through a yawning gap. The Lions looked to be gaining the upper hand but a stroke of luck swung it back to the Crusaders when Stephen Brett charged down a Louis Ludik clearing kick to score.

Again, the Crusaders struggled to put their opponents away despite a glut of possession after the break. The Lions defence finally cracked on the hour mark when Brett steamed onto a short pass and put Thorn over beside the posts for a deserved try. Lions lock Anton van Zyl then bagged a bizarre try from a kick and chase but appeared to put his foot into touch. It took a well-worked move from a Crusaders lineout to secure the bonus point when Thomas Waldrom capped a strong game by sending Perrin over.