Rugby-Crusaders face anxious wait over McCaw as title hopes slip

WELLINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - Canterbury Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder faces an anxious wait after All Blacks captain Richie McCaw injured his knee in the team's third successive Super 14 defeat.

Blackadder, who inherited the mantle left by the most successful coach in the competition when Robbie Deans was appointed Australia boss, must now somehow resurrect the champions' campaign without their inspirational leader.

McCaw suffered the injury in the first half of the 6-0 defeat by the Otago Highlanders and Blackadder said the openside flanker could be out for up to six weeks.

Coupled with injuries to five other players the Crusaders' chances of winning their eighth title are ebbing away after Australia's New South Wales Waratahs and South African sides the Bulls and Sharks continued their unbeaten runs.

Replacement Timana Tahu scored an opportunist try in the second half and his side shut down the Queensland Reds with a swarming defence in the second half to sneak a 15-11 victory for the Waratahs, who are on 18 points.

LOCAL DERBY

Last year's beaten finalists are second behind the Bulls on points difference after the 2007 champions beat the Stormers 14-10 in a dour local derby at Loftus Versfeld, with flyhalf Morne Steyn's nine points from the boot the difference.

Pre-tournament favourites the Sharks withstood a late surge from the Auckland Blues at Eden Park, though All Blacks winger Joe Rokocoko's last-ditch try made the 35-31 scoreline closer than the clinical nature in which the Sharks had controlled the game.

All Blacks winger Hosea Gear grabbed two tries to guide the Wellington Hurricanes to a 29-12 victory over the winless Cheetahs in New Plymouth.

The bonus point for scoring four tries propelled last year's semi-finalists into the top four on 14 points, three ahead of the Blues.

New Zealand's Waikato Chiefs won their first game of the season, in the opening game of the fourth round, when Lelia Masaga dived over in the first minute and Colin Bourke scored in the last in a 31-13 triumph over Australia's Western Force.

The Chiefs had narrowly lost all three of their previous matches but finally showed their potential with a competent display.

The Sharks and Waratahs could open more of a gap on the pack this week with respective matches against the Reds and Brumbies while the Hurricanes and Bulls have byes.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)