Highlanders reach play-offs as Cooper sparks the Reds

The Otago Highlanders secured a Super Rugby play-off berth and moved into second place in the New Zealand conference with an emphatic 36-9 victory over the Waikato Chiefs in Invercargill.

The Highlanders earned a four-try bonus-point win after subjecting the Chiefs to a barrage of high kicks, which forced a series of handling errors on a damp and foggy night.

The hosts led 11-3 at half-time thanks to a try from Patrick Osborne and dominated the second half with further tries from Waisake Naholo, Richard Buckman and Ben Smith as the Chiefs, who they leapfrog in the conference table, failed to find a way to counter the intense pressure.

A 10th win from 14 games lifted the Highlanders to within nine points of the Wellington Hurricanes and gives them an outside chance of overtaking the leaders who were beaten 35-18 by the Canterbury Crusaders on Friday.

The Highlanders edged ahead with two penalties by Lima Sopoaga to one by Damian McKenzie for the Chiefs, before Osborne crossed for his try after a long build-up that began when the Highlanders turned down a shot at goal and went for a lineout drive.

The Chiefs were denied a chance to close the gap at the end of the half when they turned penalties into lineout drives three times only to fall short of turning them into points.

Three minutes into the second half, Naholo's brilliant solo try put the Highlanders firmly in control, the giant winger taking the ball as first receiver from a lineout on the halfway line and ploughing through a wilting defence on a 55-metre run to the line.

The try was converted by Sopoaga to make it 18-3, although McKenzie landed two further penalties for the Chiefs to close the gap to 18-9.

However, Sopoaga was back on target with two more penalties and he then converted the tries by Buckman and Smith to finish with a personal match tally of 16 points.

Buckman dived over out wide for the Highlanders' third try in the final 10 minutes before Smith secured the bonus point two minutes from the end. 

Cooper stars for Reds

Meanwhile, the Queensland Reds welcomed back the brilliance of Quade Cooper with a commanding 32-10 win over the Western Force in Perth.

The two Australian sides went into the game occupying the bottom two positions in the Super Rugby table and with little more than pride at stake.

Cooper returned after two months sidelined by a shoulder injury and sparked the struggling Reds, who went into the match with just three wins from 13 outings this season but ran in four tries in a brilliant display that belied their lowly standing.

Cooper scored two tries and totalled 22 points, missing with just one attempt with the boot, as well as creating several scoring opportunities with his passing.

He combined brilliantly with Will Genia and it was the latter's pass that enabled Cooper to score his second try in the 63rd minute.

Cooper also scored the opening try of the match, and his first of the season, in the 17th minute.

Lachie Turner also scored a brace of tries for the Reds, and both times Cooper was involved.

The first came after Cooper bamboozled the Force with a quick flick behind his back that left Turner with an easy job to score the try in the corner in the 35th minute.

A string of passes in the 48th minute, including two from Cooper, ended with Turner all alone in the corner again for a simple try.

That all but ended the Force resistance, after they trailed 18-10 at half-time, their hopes having been temporarily revived by a 38th-minute try from Dane Hayler-Petty.

Cheetahs caught in a Newlands storm

The Stormers have cemented their play-off intentions with a convincing 42-12 victory over the Cheetahs in Cape Town.

The Newlands faithful were treated to five tries from their team as winger Seabelo Senatla crossed the whitewash twice for the South African conference leaders.

There were 17 points from the boot of fly-half Demetri Catrakilis who only missed one of his five conversion attempts.

The Cheetahs lived with the Stormers for the majority of the first half, trailing 16-7 until the 33rd minute, but thereafter the Stormers stretched their lead with Senatla's second effort.

At half-time it was 23-7, but tries from Damian de Allende, Vincent Koch and Sikhumbuzo Notshe gave Stormers the bonus point win.

With the Waratahs on the losing end in Johannesburg, the Stormers aer now second in the overall standings.

Lions continue to impress with Waratahs win

The Lions have kept their outside bid for a play-off place alive as they recorded an unlikely 27-22 win over the defending champions the Waratahs in Johannesburg.

A pair of tries from winger Ruan Combrinck gave the Lions a half-time lead of 17-10 but it was their defence that they relied on to close the game out as the Waratahs staged a comeback in the second half.

It was the Lions who opened the scoring in the second period with a try from Harold Vorster to go with a conversion and penalty from Elton Jantjies. 

Then Adam Ashley-Cooper and Bernard Foley scored tries within seven minutes of each other as the Waratahs crept into the game, but they were unable to add to their tally after the 58th-minute try from Foley as the Lions edged out the victory.

The win means that the Lions are still in the hunt for a play-off spot, currently occupying seventh place in the overall standings.