Late try gives Wellington narrow win

Wellington have once again left it late to win a Farah Palmer Cup match.

After edging Bay of Plenty last week courtesy of a last-gasp try, the Pride picked up their most impressive result of the Premiership campaign by beating Counties Manukau 38-36 in similar fashion at Westpac Stadium yesterday.

Black Ferns lock Joanah Ngan-woo was the hero for Wellington, scrambling over for a try with only four minutes remaining to level the score 36-all, before Amanda Rasch slotted the subsequent conversion.

Counties looked to have won the game when Lavinia Tauhalaliku sprinted clear of the defence and scored in the righthand corner. But the visitors were unable to withstand Wellington’s late rally, with Shontelle Woodman’s 75th minute yellow card forcing them to defend frantically with only 14 players.

Elsewhere, there was a thriller at Central Energy Trust Arena as Chelsea Alley slotted a late drop goal to give Waikato a dramatic 15-12 win over Manawatu¯ .

Auckland bounced back from last week’s defeat to Canterbury to beat Bay of Plenty 28-19 at Rugby Park, outscoring the opposition four tries to three.

Rebecca Kersten inspired Tasman to a 36-22 win against Taranaki at Yarrow Stadium. The winger, who has returned from a season playing sevens in Japan, set up a spectacular try for Tamara Silcock and before scoring two of her own as Tasman led 26-0 at halftime.

Championship leaders Otago continued their perfect start to the new season, running in six tries to secure a comfortable 40-7 win over newcomers Northland at Trigg Stadium.

But chasing Otago hard are Hawke’s Bay who beat North Harbour 39-10 thanks to a double from reserve prop Moomooga Palu. Rowing New Zealand still seeks a spot for their men’s eight at the Tokyo Olympics – but the boat isn’t likely to contain Mahe Drysdale or Hamish Bond.

The organisation has named its summer squad to prepare for next year’s Olympics and is considering sending the men’s eight and men’s quad to the ‘last chance’ Olympic qualifying regatta in Lucerne in May. Both boats narrowly failed to qualify