New Zealand's Canterbury Crusaders ran in three late tries to beat Australia's Western Force 29-24 in a nine-try Super 14 thriller at Perth on Sunday. The Crusaders piled on 17 unanswered points in the last quarter of the match to overturn a 24-12 deficit and remain unbeaten after four rounds at the top of the standings. The Force earned two bonus points for its loss, one for scoring four tries and another for losing by less than seven points, to climb into sixth place but was left to rue its missed chance against the competition favorites. “The disappointing thing for us is that we gave them too many opportunities through defensive errors and the Crusaders are masters at capitalizing on that,” Western Force captain Nathan Sharpe said in a television interview. “There were some pleasing aspects but you've got to win your home games ... and you've got to play the full 80 minutes.” The Crusaders looked to be in trouble when they trailed at halftime then slipped further behind midway through the second term but responded with three tries in 12 minutes from Ali Williams, Andrew Ellis and Casey Laulala. “We really to work hard for that, so we're very relieved,” Crusaders skipper Richie McCaw said.Scotland wins Scotland overshadowed England flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson's feat of becoming the leading points scorer in test rugby by beating the World Cup finalists 15-9 at Murrayfield. In a game of attrition dominated by the packs on a soggy afternoon, Scotland got off the mark in this season's tournament with Chris Paterson slotting home four penalties. Wilkinson replied with three of his own to take his tally to 1099 in tests, nine more than Welshman Neil Jenkins, but defeat leaves England's title hopes in tatters after a second defeat. Victory for Wales was all the sweeter for Gatland, who was dismissed as Ireland coach in 2001 and replaced by current incumbent Eddie O'Sullivan. Sharks beat Blues In Durban, flanker Keegan Daniel notched two tries to help the Sharks defeat the Blues 22-17 in the Super 14 on Saturday. Both teams were unbeaten going into the fourth round.Chiefs wear out Cheetahs New Zealand's Waikato Chiefs staged a brilliant second half comeback to beat South Africa's Cheetahs 22-20 in a Super 14 match at Hamilton on Saturday. The Cheetahs had raced to a 17
