Otago keep playoff hopes alive

North Otago's Robbie Smith was the hero for his team after landing six goal kicks with the last right on fulltime to defeat Thames Valley in Oamaru on Saturday. Photo by Getty Images. North Otago continues to pull out clutch victories in the dying moments to keep their undefeated streak going in the Mitre 10 Heartland Championship while another…

Dane Whale slotted nine points for Whanganui as they came away from Ōamaru with a convincing win. Photo / NZME Brought to you by Whanganui Rugby Mentally, there's a certain switch that can flipped within the psyche of the Steelform Whanganui rugby team - it's when the "Butcher Boys" become the "Battler Boys". When playing a crucial away Bunnings…

Shaun Stevenson, who inspired North Harbour to their second victory of the season of Wednesday night, could be considered as a replacement for injured All Blacks wing Emoni Narawa at the Rugby World Cup in France. Harbour fullback Stevenson set up two tries - at the beginning and end - of the 27-24 victory over Otago to help his side to a…

Canterbury will host the Farah Palmer Cup Premiership presented by Bunnings Warehouse final for a sixth consecutive year after posting their highest-ever semifinal score against a gallant Hawke's Bay. For the ninth time since 1999, Auckland awaits in the decider after the Storm flipped a 12-0 deficit to again eliminate Waikato. In the championship,…

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…

Thames Valley flanker Laulea Mau scored for the third straight game in the comeback win over South Canterbury in a eventful seventh round of the Heartland Championship. Photo by Getty Images. It wasn't a New York minute, more of a honest country 80, but everything has changed on the Mitre 10 Heartland Championship points table, after South…

Otago's NPC season is over - and too soon. Hayden Meikle takes a quick look at the highs and the lows. 10 games 5 wins 5 losses 274 points scored (27.4 per game) 269 points conceded (26.9 per game) 35 tries scored (3.5 per game) 33 tries conceded (3.3 per game) 5th in Odds Pool As a package, beating Tasman, Hawke's Bay and Southland in storm week…

There's no more room for error for the teams left standing in the Bunnings NPC. Two months of cutthroat, competitive rugby in New Zealand's premier provincial competition have led to this moment. In a restructured format this year that did away with promotion and relegation in favor of intermingled divisions, eight teams remain for a shot at…

The Magpies will play Wellington in a quarterfinal this weekend. Photo / Paul Taylor By Thomas Airey The Hawke's Bay Magpies have the perfect opportunity to avenge their Ranfurly Shield loss in an NPC quarterfinal in Wellington next week. Hawke's Bay will play the current holders at Sky Stadium after finishing a topsy-turvy final weekend of the…

After over two months of battling in New Zealand's provincial rugby competition, the final matchweek of the Bunnings NPC's regular season is on the horizon. Most clubs have their fates for the upcoming postseason sealed, whether that's being in or out of the picture, but for a few teams, their futures hang in the balance. For teams that don't have…

Otago is definitely back in winning mode, but it might want to shore up its defence ahead of a crunch game with its rampant neighbour this weekend. An entertainingly erratic, defence-optional 54-35 win over winless Manawatu in Palmerston North yesterday has propelled Otago to fourth place in the Odds Pool. It has the same number of points (26) as…

Having guaranteed the Ranfurly Shield can't be stolen off them for the remainder of the year, thanks to a convincing 34-6 win over Waikato in Wellington on Saturday, the men with the famous "spider'' emblem over their hearts will now go on the hunt for the NPC crown. First things first. Wellington deserves a sackful of praise for putting away…

With the scores locked at 20-20 with about 10 minutes to go, Timu rushed out of the defensive line and picked off a pass from Waikato No 10 Taha Kemara, Timu still had plenty of work to do, but he showed good pace to outstrip Mosese Dawai and score in the corner for the game's deciding try. The win was crucial for Otago, keeping them in touch with…

The stage is set for an enthralling Heartland rugby match between Steelform Whanganui and South Canterbury at Cooks Gardens on Saturday. It is the halfway stage in the eight rounds of qualifying in the 2022 Bunnings Warehouse championship, with six-times Meads Cup winners Whanganui holding a one-point lead over defending champions South…

Up against top qualifiers Canterbury in the final game of the round robin in Tauranga on Sunday, the Volcanix needed a win against the odds to knock the Wellington Pride out of the fourth and final playoffs spot. And in the end they indeed nearly produced it, before eventually falling to a 33-31 loss. Down 26-12 at the break, the hosts produced a…

The Mako have not missed the finals for four years but that proud record could be under threat as they contend with some key injuries and a high number of missing All Blacks, and not even the return of Sevu Reece and Leicester Fainga'anuku could stop them falling to North Harbour on Saturday. Reece picked up two tries in the unfamiliar No 15 jersey…

The Mako showed their customary grit to beat Wellington to secure a semifinal berth on Saturday, but they face a trip to red-hot Hawke's Bay without key lock Pari Pari Parkinson. Parkinson suffered what looked like a serious injury to his right knee in the 49th minute of the victory against the Lions, after flanker Anton Segner clattered into him…

North Otago turned underwhelming into unbelievable in the space of a week and got its Heartland Championship campaign back on track with a stunning 32-20 win over Mid Canterbury in Ashburton on Saturday. All the talk before the game was that Mid Canterbury, stacked full of attacking talent, was odds-on to make it three from the three to start the…

Wellington, already having the Ranfurly Shield secure for the summer, face one last hurdle before claiming a home playoff in Bunnings NPC action next week. They need to beat Counties Manukau, who had their playoffs hopes dented by Southland in Invercargill on Sunday, the southern team acting as spoilers in taking a 30-26 win, their first of the…

The South Island heads both divisions of the Farah Palmer Cup with Canterbury unbeaten in the Premiership and Otago unblemished in the Championship. Manawatū finally got on the board in 2022 and Counties Manukau had a big win in Tauranga. The replay of the 2021 Premiership final resulted in a Canterbury success but wasn't dissimilar to the epic…

Canterbury finished as the highest-placed side, losing only once during the competition, while scoring 46 competition points to head the Evens Conference and will host Northland who stormed home against Manawatū with a 41-24 win in Kaikohe. Neighbours North Harbour and Auckland will contest the first quarterfinal of the weekend on Friday night.…

Wellington got a second dose of good news after their Ranfurly Shield triumph over Hawke's Bay in Napier on Saturday when Bunnings NPC conference leader Waikato suffered an upset 20-27 loss to Otago in Dunedin. That pulled Waikato back to only a three-point lead in the Odds Conference while Wellington are in second place, on 28 points, three points…

Two different types of Conferences have emerged in the Bunnings NPC after the sixth weekend was completed. In the Evens Conference, Canterbury's 46-17 win over Northland has pushed them to 31, 10 points clear of Auckland who suffered their third loss when beaten 15-30 by Waikato. Northland are third on 18. In the Odds Conference, it is much…