Stormers beat Reds

The Reds came from 22 points down with 15 minutes remaining to almost steal the match from a Stormers team under pressure after losing at home against the Sharks.

The outcome left the Reds without a win after two matches but they claimed two bonus points for scoring four tries and losing by less than seven points.

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman, who is in South Africa to research his role as former president Nelson Mandela in a Clint Eastwood film, was one of the engrossed spectators.

The Reds stunned the home crowd when fly-half Quade Cooper scored a try in the first minute after charging down an attempted clearance kick by lock Andries Bekker.

The Stormers responded within five minutes with a try from wing Tonderai Chavhanga (pictured). Hooker Schalk Brits split the Reds defence in midfield and fed flanker Duane Vermeulen who fended off two defenders before offloading the scoring pass.

That remained the best moment for the home supporters with the Stormers forced to defend for the bulk of the half.

Both Chavhanga and Brits pulled off try-saving tackles during the period and on a rare visit into the Reds' 22 the Stormers earned a penalty and flyhalf Peter Grant added another three points.

Bekker atoned for his mistake by scoring the Stormers' second try in the 42nd minute and the home side continued to dominate until the hour adding a third try through Fijian wing Sireli Naqelevuki and a penalty by Grant.

The Reds then fought back and finished the stronger team as they pounded the Stormers' line, scoring tries through hooker Saia Faingaa, flank Scott Higginbotham and lock Van Humphries.

Western Force notched up their first win of the Super 14 season with a tough 16-10 win over South Africa's Cheetahs at Subiaco Oval.

The Force made amends for their narrow loss at home to Auckland last weekend by winning a tight match on the back of a superb kick display from Wallaby flyhalf Matt Giteau.

Both teams scored one try each but the Force were able to grind out the win thanks to Giteau's four successful kicks, a conversion and two penalties in the first half then a neatly taken drop goal in the second term.

"We're just happy to get away with that one," Western Force captain Nathan Sharpe said. "It was just a good effort from our boys to be under pressure (and win)."

The Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs were their own worst enemies. They missed at two scoring chances in the first half that were turned down by the video referee and conceded a vital drop goal in the second half while prop Wiaan du Preez was in the sin-bin.

"If the game was 70 minutes we'd be an unbelievable team," Cheetahs skipper Juan Smith said. "Last year we made the same mistakes, we only played for 70 minutes.

"But there are still a lot of positives to take out of this game and we know we need to go back out and work on them."

Giteau opened the scoring with a ninth-minute penalty, then 18-year-old centre James O'Connor side-stepped his way through the defence to cross under the posts in the 33rd minute and give Giteau an easy conversion for a 10-0 lead.

The Cheetahs hit back two minutes later when Fabian Julies kicked through for fellow winger Demas who toed the ball ahead and scored but their ill-discipline let them down again.

Giteau booted a second penalty on the stroke of half-time then added a drop goal while du Preez was cooling his heels early in the second.

The Cheetahs managed to get within a converted try when Jacques-Louis Potgieter landed a 45-metre penalty in the 62nd minute but failed to score again and had to settle for a consolation point.

Wellington Hurricanes scored two tries in the last five minutes to come from behind and beat Otago Highlanders.

The Hurricanes, who had conceded 17 unanswered points to fall behind after leading 10-0, drew level when lock Jason Eaton (pictured) dived over in the 76th minute.

Then All Black centre Conrad Smith, who came off the bench in his first appearance of the season, sealed the win when he crashed over a minute before fulltime.

"We battled a wee bit tonight," said Wellington's stand-in captain Tamati Ellison.

"We would have kicked the ball a lot more but in the conditions we couldn't and the ball slipped out in a few carries."

The Highlanders were left to rue their second agonising defeat in as many matches after they conceded a last-minute drop goal in their two-point loss to ACT Brumbies last weekend.

"We had the game there and we just had to play field position," Otago skipper Jason Shoemark said.

"We couldn't get out of our own half in the last ten minutes and the Hurricanes are going to punish you sooner or later."

Wellington led 3-0 after a sluggish first half but took control early in the second term when the Highlanders were reduced to 14 men with the sin-binning of Adam Thompson.

Ma'a Nonu also came off the bench and made an immediate impact, breaking through the defence to set up a try for wing David Smith.

The Highlanders piled on 17 points in a 10-minute burst to steal the lead, flyhalf Daniel Bowden scoring a try and kicking two conversions and a penalty to add to Steve Setephano's try, but were unable to hold their advantage.

Kurtley Beale kicked New South Wales to a hard-fought victory over the Waikato Chiefs to maintain the Waratahs' long winning run at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Beale laid on a first-half try for winger Timana Tahu with a superb chip-kick then booted a penalty and a drop goal in the second term to steer the Waratahs to victory after they trailed 7-5 at the break.

The result extended NSW's unbeaten run at home to eight matches, stretching back over nearly two years, and provided the Australians with their second straight win this season after they beat the Hurricanes in Wellington last weekend.

"Winning ugly beats losing ugly," Waratahs coach Chris Hickey said. "Winning tight games like that is important and it's where your character is under examination."

It was the second narrow loss for the Chiefs this season after they went down to the defending champions Canterbury Crusaders last weekend.

The New Zealanders took the lead in the first half when prop Sona Taumalolo barged his way over in the 27th minute after All Blacks wing Sitiveni Sivivatu had blown his chance to score by fumbling a Stephen Donald grubber over the tryline.

The match failed to reach any great heights with both teams coughing up possession and making fundamental errors whenever they were in position to score.

The Chiefs were missing several key players, including their skipper Mils Muliaina, and spent most of the match defending.

The Waratahs opened the scoring after just 16 minutes when Beale kicked over and across the Waikato defensive line for Tahu to gather on the full and dive over.

The Chiefs led for almost half an hour after Taumalolo's touchdown, before Beale made amends for three failed attempts at goal in the first half with a penalty then a wobbly drop goal.

"Kurtley's developing some good vision in that regard and Timana did well," Hickey said. "You're pleased when those things come off for you."