Canterbury hang on to deny spirited Auckland
Canterbury held off a fastfinishing Auckland Storm in a Farah Palmer Cup round-two thriller in Christchurch.
The hosts at Rugby Park held a 21-point lead 10 minutes into the second half on Saturday, but Auckland stormed back with four unanswered tries in 18 minutes to hit the front.
Leading 27-26 with less than 10 minutes to play, the visitors looked poised to cap an unlikely victory, however Canterbury hit back almost immediately when wing Martha Mataele crashed over under the sticks for her second try.
Canterbury, who won the title four years running then lost last year’s decider to Waikato, are now two from two this season.
Auckland had started with a hiss and a roar, with openside flanker Tafito Lafaele scoring in just the second minute.
But the hosts were quick on the hit-back, centre Amy du Plessis strolling over less than five minutes later off a great inside ball from Rosie Kelly; then only two minutes later Mataele latched onto a Charntay Poko cross-kick and burst through a tackle, and all of a sudden it was 14-5.
With a strongly-performing lineout, including some steals, Canterbury added to their advantage in the 26th minute when wing Grace Steinmetz finished in the left corner after a brilliant buildup, and the red and blacks took a 19-5 lead to the break.
Just two minutes into the second stanza they had their bonus point, when hooker Georgia Ponsonby crashed over on the back of a powerful maul, and the job looked as good as done.
Cue the Auckland fightback, though. A 50-minute scoring drought was broken when lock Maia Roos dived over from close range, then although the visitors had a try ruled out for obstruction, they weren’t to be deterred.
A hard-charging Lafaele unloaded for fullback Kiritapu Demant to go over, then half a dozen minutes later older sister Ruahei Demant also had a try, going 40 metres in finishing a sensational effort from inside her side’s 22m.
There was more brilliance to come, with No 8 Charmaine McMenamin’s stunning run upfield leading to fullback Katelyn Vaha’akolo going over in the 70th minute, giving Auckland the lead for the first time since early doors.
However, Canterbury would not be denied, and in the end Auckland will also lament their one from five success rate off the tee in the five-tries-apiece contest.
Meanwhile, in the first championship division games of the season, the Otago Spirit survived three yellow cards to claim a 44-22 bonus-point victory over the Hawke’s Bay Tui in Hastings, the Northland Kauri also claimed a bonus-point in beating Tasman 29-10 in Whanga¯ rei, and the North Harbour Hibiscus accounted for the Taranaki Whio 21-10 in New Plymouth.
In yesterday’s games, the newly promoted Manawatu¯ Cyclones pushed the Bay of Plenty Volcanix all the way in Palmerston North, before losing 37-26. Down 27-11, Manawatu¯ fought their way back to trail 27-26, but two late tries from Bay of Plenty sealed the win.
Wellington edged CountiesManukau 27-19 in Pukekohe, courtesy of doubles from Black Ferns duo, lock Joanah Ngan-Woo and wing Ayesha Leti-l’iga.