Mid Canterbury stun Wanganui
Defending champions Wanganui were stunned for the second week in a row in the Heartland Championship, going down 40-39 to Mid Canterbury in Ashburton.
Mid Canterbury stole an unlikely win with a Jared Percival penalty on fulltime.
Mid Canterbury struck early with a try to Christian Vainerere and by halftime 55 points had been scored, with the hosts up 31-24.
Mid Canterbury fullback Maleli Sau’s second effort was a contender for try of the season. Percival snatched an intercept and took off down the field but didn’t have the gas. HIs crossfield kick bounced favourably for Sau and Mid Canterbury were suddenly out to 31-12.
Two Wanganui tries late in the first half to Kaveni Dabenaise and Cameron Crowley narrowed the the gap.
A Percival penalty after the break gave Mid Canterbury a
10-point buffer, and one more penalty apiece made it 37-27 before Mid Canterbury were reduced to
14 players, after Seta Koroitamana was yellow carded.
A second Dabenaise try with less than 10 minutes to go gave Wanganui the lead but the missed conversion left the door ajar for the home side and Percival landed a 45-metre penalty to steal the win.
Poverty Bay also pulled off a big upset in Gisborne, beating West Coast 36-19 to notch their second win of the championship.
It also put a dent in West Coast’s top-four aspirations after they were kept scoreless in the second half. The Coasters sit seventh on the table.
For Poverty Bay No 8 Siosiua Moala had a big game while right wing Andrew Tauatevalu also impressed with two tries.
Top of the table South Canterbury hung on to beat a tenacious North Otago outfit 36-29 in Timaru, to retain the Hanan Shield.
South Canterbury led early 17-3 and had the four-try bonus point before halftime but North Otago kept coming back.
For North Otago veteran centre Lemi Masoe was very good, bagging two tries, while No 8 Mika Mafi had big game considering he had played 79 minutes for Otago against Auckland on Thursday night.
Horowhenua Kapiti sliced up East Coast 52-3 running in seven tries in Otaki, all of which were converted.
Hooker David McErlane was a star scoring three tries.
In Westport Buller didn’t have it all their own way with Wairarapa Bush in it until the end before succumbing 29-24.
For Buller lock Robbie Bonisch had a huge game while blindside Luke Watson was in everything.
Wairarapa were very competitive at the breakdown, with flanker Eddie Cranston a standout, and defended vey well, while firstfive Tim Priest was the best of the backs.
Thames Valley kept their top four hopes alive with a highscoring 45-36 win over King Country in Te Kuiti.