SYDNEY - South Africa's Western Stormers, the Wellington Hurricanes of New Zealand and Australia's Brumbies lead their respective national conferences after this weekend's round of Super 15 games.
Cheslin Kolbe (C) of South Africa's Western Stormers pictured in May 2014 at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town
The Stormers went to the top of the overall standings following a 27-16 win over the Auckland Blues, who had lock Hayden Triggs red-carded for punching in Cape Town.
An opportunist Julian Savea try with 13 minutes left got the Hurricanes home 17-13 over the Northern Bulls in Pretoria.
The Brumbies lead the Australian conference despite going down to the last kick of the match in a 19-17 loss to the Waikato Chiefs in New Plymouth.
A brace of second-half tries from flanker Marcell Coetzee earned the Coastal Sharks a bonus-point 29-12 victory over Golden Lions in Durban to lift them into the top six just ahead of the Central Cheetahs, who had a bye this weekend.
In the other matches, champions New South Wales Waratahs fought off a determined Melbourne Rebels challenge to win their first game of the season 38-28 in Melbourne.
Queensland Reds put a disruptive week behind them to pull off their first win of the season with a grinding 18-6 victory over Western Force in Brisbane.
The Canterbury Crusaders defeated New Zealand rivals the Otago Highlanders 26-20 to bounce back from a shock opening-round loss.
In Cape Town, Triggs was sent off by referee Craig Joubert midway through the first half after punching Stormers captain Duane Vermuelen twice in an off-the-ball incident spotted by an assistant referee.
The Stormers took advantage of their numerical superiority to lead 18-6 at half-time, but the anticipated second-half dominance of the South Africans did not materialise and they missed out on claiming a four-try bonus point.
In a messy match in Pretoria, giant All Blacks left-wing Savea took a quick tap penalty close to the Bulls try-line and took three defenders with him over the line.
It proved the decisive score and the Hurricanes celebrated winning consecutive matches in South Africa for the first time since 2006.
All Black Aaron Cruden's 80th-minute penalty proved the difference for the Chiefs in a tight contest where both sides scored one try apiece and the lead changed five times.
The Brumbies were missing injured skipper David Pocock for the fixture, a rematch of the 2013 Super 15 final won by the Chiefs.
- Pressure kicking -
In Durban, Springbok Coetzee struck twice carrying the ball over the try-line after driving mauls following line-outs.
Fly-half Patrick Lambie contributed nine points and coupled with 24 points in a shock home loss to the Cheetahs the previous weekend made him the leading Super 15 scorer after two rounds with 33 points.
In Melbourne, the Waratahs and Rebels scored four tries each for bonus points, but it was the pressure kicking of fly-half Bernard Foley that got the Waratahs home in a tight contest.
It was a much improved performance by the Waratahs after a week of soul searching following their losing performance at home to the Western Force in last weekend's season opener.
The Queensland Reds, coming off a heavy loss to the Brumbies and off-field dramas with high-profile recruit Karmichael Hunt, carved out a two tries to nil win over their Australian rivals.
It has been a tumultuous start to the new season for the Reds with a crippling injury toll, the heavy first-up loss and Hunt due to appear in court next month on charges of supplying cocaine.
Hunt stood down from Saturday's game and the Reds were forced into another late change when their other big-name signing James O'Connor was forced out with an injury during the warm-up.
The Crusaders, still stinging from an upset to the Rebels at home last week, showed glimpses of the form that got them to the final last year.
However, the seven-time champions needed to snuff out a late surge from the Highlanders in a high-intensity game featuring two tries from each side.