Wallabies fullback Chris Latham is in danger of missing the rest of the Super 14 after damaging his knee during the Queensland Reds' loss to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Reds officials said last night that Latham, who was twisted in a tackle during the first half, had suffered a grade-two medial ligament injury and would be sidelined for up to six weeks. Although the Reds are almost certainly out of finals contention, the loss of Latham is disastrous,as they rely heavily on his midfield impact and organisational skills. The Test regular, who has signed a deal to play with English side Worcester next year, recently found his form following a slow start to the season.

The Reds were little chance of getting anywhere near the Cheetahs after Latham left the field in the 22nd minute, followed shortly afterwards by their captain and halfback Sam Cordingley, who had a calf strain. At the time, the Reds were 17-0 down and in danger of a serious thrashing, especially as the tourists were relying on a number of novices.

To their credit, the Reds rallied during the second half, prompted by a solid performance by inside-centre Berrick Barnes and two tries by replacement winger Brando Va'aulu. They got to within 10 points of a side chasing its first victory of the season, but the early blemishes by the Reds gave the Cheetahs too much of a head start and a last-minute try gave them a 29-14 win and their seventh bonus point of the season.

Cordingley later complained: "You can't start a game of football like that. I think there was a lack of enthusiasm earlier in the game. We were out-enthused by the Cheetahs. Our breakdown work was very poor, first man in was poor, our ball-carry was poor - they're areas that I think was just a lack of enthusiasm."

■ The Hurricanes were furious with the performance of Australian referee Paul Marks after he ignored what appeared to be a matchwinning try in the final seconds of the match against the Sharks in Wellington on Saturday night.

As the full-time siren sounded, with the scores level, Hurricanes reserve forward Thomas Waldrom appeared to ground the ball after Sharks fullback Stefan Terblanche knocked the ball back behind the tryline. In the same movement, Hurricanes centre Conrad Smith also appeared to be tackled without the ball just in front of the line. Despite pleas from the Hurricanes for either a penalty try or an adjudication from the video referee over whether Waldrom had grounded the ball, Marks instead blew full-time.

Marks, who had earlier awarded the Sharks a penalty try after ruling the Hurricanes had collapsed a maul near their tryline, was booed off the field.