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Ma'a Nonu scored two second-half tries to help the the Hurricanes back into play-off contention with a 34-11 Super 14 victory over the Stormers.

Hurricanes 34-11 Lions

Nonu (pictured) finished off a mid-field break by fellow All Black Cory Jane in the 52nd minute, then burst through three tackles from an attacking scrum to give the home side a bonus-point try 10 minutes later.

The victory moved the Hurricanes up to 29 points, equal with South Africa's Bulls, who have a better points differential and retained second place behind the Sharks (30), who play the Canterbury Crusaders in Durban later.

Lock Jeremy Thrush and winger Tamati Ellison - who was set up by Nonu with a long cut-out pass - scored the other tries for the home side, while fly-half Willie Ripia slotted four conversions and two penalties.

"We achieved what we set out to do today, which was to win," Hurricanes captain Rodney So'oialo said. "The boys had to focus and deny them possession and we started to do that very well in the second half." Replacement centre Dylan des

Fountain, who came on for Stormers captain Jean de Villiers in the fifth minute, opened the scoring in the eighth minute with an opportunist try when he kicked ahead from deep inside his own half.

Hurricanes full-back Jane, who was the last defender, slipped over as he turned and Des Fountain then managed to beat Ripia to the ball as it bounced over the try line, though Peter Grant made a hash of the easy conversion.

Grant also missed another easy shot at goal, but slotted two penalties, one on each side of the halftime break.

"No excuses for tonight, it was a poor performance from our guys. We made a lot of errors and the Hurricanes capitalised on it," said Stormers stand-in captain Schalk Burger.

"It has been the story of our season, we have coughed up so much ball and we can't get any continuity.

"They've (the Hurricanes) got game breakers all over the park and we saw tonight that if you give them loose ball and possession you can't defend it."

Queensland Reds 20-31 Golden Lions

Lions winger Henno Metz scored a hat-trick of tries, the third while his side were reduced to 13 men, to help the South Africans to a 31-20 victory over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane.

Metz scored two of his tries off turnovers as the Lions defended desperately deep inside their own half and the left wing used his searing pace to outsprint the Reds' cover.

The Lions spent eight minutes of the second half with 13 men after replacement loose forward Robert Kruger was sin-binned for a late tackle on Reds full-back Mark McLinden.

Lock Anton van Zyl joined him on the sidelines two minutes later for a professional foul while Quade Cooper was in the process of scoring a try to bring the Reds back to 24-20.

The Lions, however, controlled possession and stole several of Queensland's lineout throws to ensure the Reds' numerical advantage was not turned into points.

Lions flanker Ernst Joubert scored the visitors' other try, while fly-half Andre Pretorius converted all four and added a penalty.

"To have 13 against these guys who really can throw the ball around like it is a touch rugby game, I really must take my hat off to my boys," Joubert said. "It was a brilliant performance.

"We kind of fell into their trap and were playing to their game plan but in the second half we just calmed down and started to play the game a bit slower and it suited us better."

Will Genia and Scott Higginbotham scored first half tries for the Reds, while Berrick Barnes slotted a penalty and a conversion.

"We just didn't come out and play tonight," Reds captain James Horwill said. "We gave away possession and gave them two long-range tries that really hurt us. We just didn't show up."

NSW Waratahs 14-15 Western Force

Scott Staniforth scored a try in the corner with 14 minutes remaining as Western Force defeat NSW Waratahs for the first time with a 15-14 victory in Sydney.

The loss means the Waratahs' chances of making the semi-finals are slowly slipping away with a bye next week before they play their final three matches in South Africa.

The Waratahs are fifth with 28 points from 10 games, one game more than most of their fellow semi-final contenders, while the Force are now in eighth place on 23 points.

Cameron Shepherd also scored a try for the Perth-based franchise, while Matt Giteau slotted a conversion and a penalty.

The Force crossed the line on two other occasions, once in each half, only to be called back for alleged transgressions.

The first was when Staniforth was adjudged to have his foot in touch when he chipped ahead for Drew Mitchell to collect and touch down, the second when a Giteau pass to Richard Brown was ruled forward.

Television replays showed Staniforth was clearly in the field of play when he kicked ahead, while Giteau's pass was legal.

"I thought we were unlucky not to get a couple more tries tonight," Force captain Nathan Sharpe said.

"Our defence is good...We gave away a few too many penalties but the beauty of that is they didn't look like scoring."

Lock Will Caldwell scored NSW's only try in the 52nd minute, four minutes after he returned to the field after spending 10 minutes in the sinbin for a high tackle on Force scrum-half Josh Valentine.

Fly-half Daniel Halangahu stroked three first half penalties for the home side, who wasted several scoring opportunities.

Waratahs captain Phil Waugh said: "If you don't know the opportunities when you get them you're not going to win games. I don't know how many points we left out there."

Sharks 10-13 Canterbury Crusaders

Defending Super 14 champions the Canterbury Crusaders handed the Sharks their second straight defeat with a 13-10 victory in Durban.

The Sharks are now second in the standings on points difference behind the Waikato Chiefs who earlier defeated the Cheetahs 28-10.

In a match characterised by poor handling and solid defence, the Sharks opened up a 7-0 lead after 10 minutes when lock Steven Sykes barged through two tacklers for a try converted by scrumhalf Rory Kockott.

The Crusaders cut the deficit to four points through a 25th-minute penalty from flyhalf Stephen Brett after Kockott went offside at a scrum in front of the Sharks' posts.

The champions took the lead four minutes later when All Blacks captain Richie McCaw scored.

The Sharks began the second half strongly but it was the visitors who extended their lead to six points in the 47th minute when scrumhalf Andy Ellis kicked a drop goal which proved to be the difference between the sides.

Reuters