NPC: Wellington retain Ranfurly Shield, for four days, as wounded Tasman loom
Coinciding with their ‘storm week’, the Lions next have the prized possession on the line a mere four days later, when, on Wednesday night at Sky Stadium, they host a wounded Tasman side hunting their first-ever lift of the Log o’ Wood.
Southland, despite two plucky home performances to start the season, were never going to be considered serious challengers for the recently-restored historic silverware, but the Stags at least gave Wellington, who also have the NPC trophy in their cabinet, a decent go of it in their 39-17 loss at the Hutt Recreation Ground.
In fact, it took some quite spectacular tries from the hosts to clinch their six-tries-to-three victory, with the eye-catching finishes only a further plug for small-venue footy in this competition, with the smattering on hand just metres from the action, especially behind the dead-ball line.
Wellington are now three from three to start the campaign, and as much as they have shown good signs of their x-factor attack, first-year coach Tamati Ellison will perhaps take greatest delight in their 28 points conceded, which is less than half what any other side has let in so far.
A huge re-match of last year’s final looms next Sunday when the Lions take on Canterbury in Christchurch, but squeezed in before that, of course, comes this next Shield challenge against the other Crusaders powerhouse, Tasman.
Though the Mako will arrive in the capital hurting, following a shock 32-5 drubbing at the hands of Northland in Whangārei on Saturday night.
Tasman had started the season with two wins from two, while the Taniwha were staring down the barrel after two losses and a draw, and it was perhaps their more desperate situation which put the underdog ($4.80) hosts in the better frame of mind.
With No 10 Rivez Reihana pulling the strings expertly, winger Heremaia Murray scored a double for the second game in a row, as Northland scored not only their first win over the Mako since 2012, but even bagged a bonus point late-on to ice it.
Mako co-coaches Gray Cornelius and Dan Perrin will implore their troops to quickly ditch any memories of that trip to the far north, ahead of their shot at the Shield, and a slice of history.
Since the union’s formation in 2006, Tasman have had three challenges for the Log, and they have resulted in a 26-20 loss to Wellington in 2008, a 49-40 loss to Taranaki in 2012 and a 34-22 loss to Hawke’s Bay in 2021.
Meanwhile, Northland weren’t the only team to bag their first win of the season, with Counties Manukau also causing an upset with their 32-19 victory over Bay of Plenty in Pukekohe on Friday night, in a game where, astonishingly, the Steelers had their bonus point inside just 12 minutes.
Last year’s home quarterfinalists, North Harbour, are in an 0-3 hole, after being outgunned 43-21 by Auckland in the Battle of the Bridge at Onewa Domain on Saturday, while the road looks as long as ever for Manawatū, who suffered a 17th straight loss when thumped 68-26 by Canterbury in Christchurch later on Saturday.
On Sunday, unbeaten Hawke’s Bay recorded their fourth win from as many games. But the Magpies were given an almighty scare by winless Otago, clinging on for a dramatic 33-32 victory at McLean Park after almost squandering a 26-12 halftime lead.
The southerners weren’t about to roll over and came out fighting during a wild second period.
A yellow card for Josh Gimblett five minutes from time then gave Otago a route back into the game, which they duly took to set up a grandstand finish in Napier.
Finn Hurley kicked the resulting penalty to make it a six-point game, then in the very last play Jack Leslie chased down a chip into the in-goal from Hurley and managed to apply downward pressure on the ball as Paula Balekana failed to clean up the danger.
That left Hurley with a chance to seal the points for Otago from the right touchline, but sadly for them he couldn’t convert, dragging it wide of the posts.
In the final game of the round, Waikato’s difficult start continued with an error-strewn 29-17 loss to table-topping Taranaki in Hamilton.
Waikato’s woes were summed up by the fact they failed to capitalise on a yellow card to Tom Florence for his part in a melee on 64 minutes, conceding three tries and only scoring one in the time they had an extra man on the field.
With the win, the unbeaten Bulls replaced Hawke’s Bay at the top of the ladder, while Waikato remain stuck in mid-table with three defeats and just one win from four games.
AT A GLANCE
NPC, Rd 3
At Navigation Homes Stadium, Pukekohe: Counties Manukau32 (Kauvaka Kaivelata, Sam Tuifua, penalty try, Riley Hohepa tries; Riley Hohepa 2 con, 2 pen) Bay of Plenty19 (Cole Forbes, Kurt Eklund, Semisi Paea tries; Lucas Cashmore 2 con). HT: 29-14
At Onewa Domain, Auckland: Auckland 43 (Zarn Sullivan 2, Kalani Thomas, AJ Lam, Harry Plummer, Caleb Tangitau tries; Zarn Sullivan 5 con, pen) North Harbour 21 (Danyon Morgan-Puterangi 2, Wallace Sititi tries; Oscar Koller 2 pen). HT: 22-6
At Hutt Recreation Ground, Lower Hutt: Wellington 39 (Pepesana Patafilo, Caleb Delany, Riley Higgins, Dominic Ropeti, Connor Garden-Bachop, Josh Southall tries; Tjay Clarke 3 con, pen) Southland 17 (Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa, Leroy Ferguson, Gabriel Hamer-Webb tries; Greg Dyer con). HT: 17-7
At Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch: Canterbury 68 (Manasa Mataele 2, Mitchell Drummond 2, Rameka Poihipi 2, Fergus Burke, Blair Murray, Corey Kellow, Chay Fihaki tries; Fergus Burke 6 con, Alex Harford 3 con) Manawatū 26 (Jordi Viljoen, Johan Momsen, Kyle Brown, Raymond Tuputupu tries; Brett Cameron 2 con, Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula con). HT: 28-5
At Semenoff Stadium, Whangārei: Northland 32 (Heremaia Murray 2, Liam Hallam-Eames, Matt Moulds tries; Rivez Reihana 2 con, 2 pen, Dan Hawkins con) Tasman 5 (Quentin MacDonald try). HT: 15-5
At McLean Park, Napier: Hawke’s Bay 33 (Devan Flanders 2, Chase Tiatia, Folau Fakatava, Ollie Sapsford, tries; Lincoln McClutchie 4 con) Otago 32 (Christian Lio-Willie, Josh Whaanga, Saula Ma’u, Jeremiah Asi, Jack Leslie tries; Sam Gilbert 1 con, Finn Hurley 1 pen, 1 con) HT: 26-12
AT FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton: Waikato 17 (George Dyer, Daniel Sinkinson, Patrick McCurran tries; Taha Kemara con) Taranaki 29 (Kini Naholo 2, Adam Lennox 2, Matt McKenzie tries; Jayson Potroz 2 cons) HT: 5-12
Wednesday: Wellington v Tasman, Sky Stadium, Wellington, 7.05pm (Ranfurly Shield)
POINTS (games played): Taranaki 18 (4), Hawke’s Bay 18 (4), Canterbury 15 (3), Wellington 13 (3), Auckland 10 (3), Tasman 9 (3), Waikato 8 (4), Counties Manukau 7 (3), Northland 7 (4), Bay of Plenty 5 (3), North Harbour 2 (3), Southland 2 (3), Otago 2 (3), Manawatū 1 (3)
