Canterbury’s Cocksedge stars in FPC final
A 27-point haul from Black Fern Kendra Cocksedge has helped Canterbury to back-to-back Farah Palmer Cup victories.
The defending champions were too classy for Counties Manukau with a 52-29 victory at Rugby Park in Christchurch on Saturday.
Cocksedge scored two tries, kicked a perfect eight from eight off the kicking tee and controlled the game to perfection.
The clever halfback’s kicking game kept Counties Manukau pinned in their own half for much of the second spell after the red and blacks carried a healthy 35-10 lead into the break.
Cocksedge, playing her 75th match for Canterbury, scored their first two tries – the second, a stunning individual effort from halfway off a quick tap penalty.
Judging solely on Canterbury’s convincing final win, it seems hard to believe just Cocksedge and prop Pip Love are members of the Black Ferns squad.
Canterbury prop and captain Stephanie Te Ohaere-Fox – who won’t feature much in the highlight videos but got through a mountain of work in the tough stuff, praised the influence of Cocksedge.
‘‘Her knowledge of the game, kicking to right space, she was on-point,’’ she said.
‘‘Great player to have in the team, always doing the right thing at the right time. She’s definitely valued in the team.’’
Canterbury were the defending champions but the 13-7 victory in last year’s final over Counties Manukau came in Pukekohe.
‘‘It was great to be able to give back to you guys with a home final,’’ she said.
Speedy Canterbury wing Sam Curtis, who was joined on the field by her twin Taylor Curtis when she came on as a replacement in the second half, grabbed two first-half tries.
Despite being well-beaten, Counties fought hard until the end, with 16-year-old replacement forward Anastasia Mamea’s second try coming after the full-time siren.
‘‘Always proud of the girls. That last five minutes we really went to work, I was just hoping that we could have done it in the first 75 minutes of the game but it’s all good,’’ Counties Manukau captain Arihiana Marino-Tahinu said.
Meanwhile, Wellington hammered Otago 55-5 to win the Farah Palmer Cup Championship final to win promotion to the Premiership in 2019.
Wellington scored nine tries to one in the one-sided match at Porirua Park.
Ironically, just like Counties Manukau, it was Otago who scored the first try of the match.