Southland: 25 and still counting
Round four
Southland are lucky there is no relegation in the Mitre 10 Cup.
It is now 25 straight losses for the struggling Stags, after being hammered 80-0 by Canterbury on Saturday.
Against Southland, the redand-blacks looked like the National Provincial Championship heavyweights they have always been, outscoring their opponents 12 tries to nil.
All Blacks second-five Ryan Crotty, who was included in the All Blacks squad for the World Cup earlier in the week, enjoyed a successful return from a broken thumb and scored twice in the rout as Canterbury finally got off the mark after beginning the season with three defeats.
It doesn’t get any easier for Southland who have not won since October 8, 2016. Next up for the Stags are Championship pacesetters Hawke’s Bay, who continued their perfect start to the 2019 campaign by beating Northland 42-28.
The stacked Tasman Mako continued their perfect start to the year with a hard-fought, bonus-point 28-18 victory over inter-division opponents Taranaki in New Plymouth yesterday.
The Mako, resembling a Super Rugby side with their deep array of talent, now have the only perfect record in either division, sitting atop the Premiership standings (by 5) on 19 points with four victories from as many matches.
Tasman were on point throughout, with wing Tima Faingaanuku bagging a brace of tries and his brother Leicester also prominent. But the Bulls stuck to their task and scored two tries to one in a second 40 where they managed to win more ball.
Taranaki, with their first defeat of the campaign, drop to third in the Championship standings, behind both Hawke’s Bay and Bay of Plenty who nailed victories over the weekend.
Hawke’s Bay wing Neria Fomai scored three times as the Magpies rallied from an early 10-point deficit.
The Taniwha kept in the fight, reducing the deficit to one at the hour mark, but Hawke’s Bay’s class shone through, as Fomai scored a crucial hat-trick try in the 65th minute.
There was another hat-trick down south as Vilimoni Koroi’s three tries helped Otago see off a spirited Ranfurly Shield challenge
Wellington 29 (Wes Goosen, James Blackwell, Billy Proctor, Du’plessis Kirifi tries, Jackson Garden-bachop 3 con, pen) Counties Manukau 22 (Sikeli Nabou, Kalione Hala, Orbyn Leger, Malgene Ilaua tries, Riley Hohepa con). HT: 7-12.
Otago 37 (Vilimoni Koroi 3, Jona Nareki, Patelesio Tomkinson tries, Josh Ioane 3 con, 2 pen) Manawatu¯ 20 (Jamie Booth, Adam Boult tries, Otere Black 2 con, 2 pen). HT: 22-17.
Hawke’s Bay 43 (Neria Fomai 3, Caleb Makene 2, Ash Dixon, Folau Fakatava tries; Danny Toala 4 con)
Northland 28 (Temo Mayanavanua, Jack Straker, Jaycob Matiu tries; Jack Debreczeni 2 con, 3 pen) HT: 22-15.
Canterbury 80 (Tom Christie, Mitchell Drummond 2, Luke Romano, Ryan Crotty 2, Fergus Burke, Josh Mckay 2, Mitchell Dunshea, Dallas Mcleod, Luke Whitelock tries; Burke 4 con, Brett Cameron 6 con) Southland 0. HT: 33-0.
Waikato 20 (Ollie Norris, Declan O’donnell tries; Fletcher Smith 2 con, 2 pen) Auckland 20 (Caleb Clarke, Leni Apisai tries; D’angelo Leuila con, pen; Daniel Kirkpatrick con, pen). HT: 14-10.
Bay of Plenty 27 (Mitch Karpik, Joe Webber, Alex Ainley tries; Dan Hollinshead 3 con, pen) North Harbour 19 (Lotu Inisi, Shaun Stevenson, James Little tries; Matt Mcgahan 2 con) HT: 21-14.
Tasman 28 (Tima Faingaanuku 2, Andrew Makalio, Finlay Christie tries; Mitch Hunt 2 pens, con) Taranaki 18 (Lachlan Boshier, Waisake Naholo tries; Daniel Waite 2 pens, con). HT: 18-6.
Standings:
Premiership: Tasman 19, Auckland 14, Waikato 12, Wellington 12, Counties Manukau 11, North Harbour 9, Canterbury 8.
Championship: Hawke’s Bay 18, Bay of Plenty 15, Taranaki 14, Otago 10, Northland 4, Manawatu¯ 1, Southland 0.
from Manawatu¯ . Looking to lift the Shield for the first time since their 1976-78 reign, Manawatu¯ led several times.
But ultimately it was the hosts who held strong, winning 37-20 while receiving some help from a couple of referee decisions that didn’t go the visitors way.
Waikato and Auckland played out a scrappy 20-20 draw.
Waikato led by 10 points with 20 minutes to go but Auckland fought back through replacement hooker Leni Apisai’s 68th-minute try before Daniel Kirkpatrick landed a tough conversion and a late penalty to level the score.
Fletcher Smith had a chance to win the match at the death for Waikato but his long-range penalty attempt was wayward.
Round four started in spectacular fashion when Wellington scored after the hooter to stun Counties Manukau 29-22.
Captain Du’plessis Kirifi was the hero for the Lions, streaking down the left flank to give Wellington the win after a draw looked likely.
In the early game yesterday, Bay of Plenty beat North Harbour 27-19.