The ACT Brumbies scored six second-half tries and dominated possession throughout to beat South Africa's Cheetahs 61-15 in a Super 14 rugby match. Prop Ben Alexander scored a pair of tries Saturday to give him a Brumbies' leading four for the season. The Brumbies improved to 6-2 and stayed with two points of a semifinal spot, while the Cheetahs dropped to 2-6. Cheetahs captain and Springboks flanker Juan Smith withdrew from the match because of the death of his father in Bloemfontein. Carter lifts Crusaders Canterbury's Daniel Carter became the leading points scorer in Super rugby after kicking 15 points in the Crusaders' 20-13 victory over the New South Wales Waratahs in Christchurch Saturday. Carter came into the Super 14 match on 1,007 points and took that tally to 1,022 after slotting five penalties, moving him past ACT Brumbies' Stirling Mortlock, who has 1,019. Neither side was able to assert any dominance in a match characterized by controlled pressure and bone-rattling defense, and it was not until Crusaders' scrumhalf Kahn Fotuali'i scored a 76th minute try that the match was settled. Force beats Highlanders In New Zealand, Ryan Cross and Cameron Shepherd each scored two tries to give the Western Force a 41-27 win over the Otago Highlanders in Super 14 rugby. Shepherd, playing his first match in eight weeks after suffering an injury in the first round of the season, marked his return by scoring the first and last of the Force's six tries Saturday. Cross also scored his second in a late flurry from the Force who added three tries and 21 points in the last 10 minutes of a previously close match. The lead changed hands seven times in the first 70 minutes before tries by Justin Turner, Cross and Shepherd near fulltime made the Force's win emphatic. Stormers hold off Blues In Auckland, the Stormers galloped to an early lead then scrambled in defense and held their nerve to beat the Auckland Blues 33-21 in their Super 14 match Saturday. The South African side had raced out to a 20-0 lead through tries from center Jaque Fourie and scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage, both of which were converted by flyhalf Peter Grant, who also added two penalties before the Blues even settled into the game. “It was a really good start by the Stormers and we didn't capitalize on the opportunities we had,” Blues captain Keven Mealamu said. “A side like that, who defend really well, really make you pay the price when you don't seize those opportunities.” Leinster in semis Defending champion Leinster reached the European Cup semifinals Friday with a 29-28 win over Clermont as the French side's Australian fly-half Brock James suffered a kicking horror-show. Leinster will face either Toulouse or Stade Francais for a place in the final, as Clermont, for whom winger Julien Malzieu scored a hat trick of tries, were defeated in the last eight for a third time. Shell-shocked James cut a heart-broken figure after fluffing two drop-goal attempts, including the last kick of the game.
