Wairarapa Bush make semifinals

The Heartland Championship round robin has ended with Wairarapa Bush edging Horowhenua Kapiti for the final place in the Meads Cup semifinals.

With both sides even on points heading into the final round, the slightest of slips would have seen the other side progress to the sought-after Meads Cup spots.

But with both slipping up, the decision came down to previous results, and Wairarapa Bush’s 33-19 earlier win over Horowhenua Kapiti saw them through.

Bush lost 57-35 to Wanganui in Masterton on Saturday, securing a four-try bonus point in the process.

That means a win by Horowhenua Kapiti against Buller in Levin would put their rivals over the Tararua Range into the Meads Cup, but Buller emerged with a shock 44-31 win much to the delight of Wairarapa Bush, who will travel south to face top qualifiers South Canterbury in the Meads Cup semifinals on Saturday.

Mid Canterbury will host Wanganui in the other Meads Cup semifinal match up.

Horowhenua Kapiti are top seeds in the Lochore Cup semifinals, and will host North Otago in Levin on Saturday. King Country will host Buller in the second semifinal.

Bush were so close to giving up their spot in the top four, down 47-0 at halftime against Wanganui on their home turf.

With their Meads Cup status in mind, Bush came out firing in the second half and took it to their opponents, scoring five tries to grab at least a bonus point and hope that Horowhenua Kapiti slipped up.

Andy Humberstone scored a brace while Andrew Makalio, Cody Whittaker and Cameron Hayton also crossed the line as Wairarapa scored five second half tries, but with Wanganui scoring eight tries to eight different men they were never in contention.

Horowhenua Kapiti also needed a strong second half to secure a bonus point, but it was too little, too late.

With H-K down 20-3 against Buller, a Luke Harvey double and further tries to Scott Cameron and Perry Haymen brought them close, but they couldn’t secure a second bonus point for losing by seven or less.

South Canterbury move into the semifinals in top shape, having thumped Poverty Bay 62-19. Erenimo Tau scored four tries for South Canterbury.

Mid Canterbury edged North Otago 39-36 in a thriller in Oamaru to keep their hands on a home semifinal, while King Country earned a home semifinal in the Lochore Cup with a big 60-14 win over East Coast in Taupo on Saturday.