Heavyweights get hosting rights
Some late speed wobbles for a few title contenders and new lodgings for the most prized piece of wood in New Zealand sport highlighted the final round of rugby’s NPC.
Canterbury confirmed their favouritism for the premiership title with a Saturday afternoon stroll over Southland and will host fourth-placed Taranaki in one semifinal this weekend. The defending champions were rocked at home by a resurgent Tasman who booked a trip to Auckland for Friday’s first semi.
Most of the action happened in the championship where leaders Hawke’s Bay and Wellington were both upset at home, the former handing over the Ranfurly Shield to a Brad Weber-inspired Waikato after 11 successful defences.
Otago stormed home with two wins in five days and will prove tough semifinal opponents for Wellington, who were upset by relegated Manawatu, while Bay of Plenty return to Napier in the other semi, scene of their narrow shield miss last month.
Canterbury finished six points clear at the top, after a 39-20 win over Southland. They got there without prop Joe Moody who was summoned to Cardiff by the All Blacks two hours before kickoff, and knew they had top spot wrapped up without needing to win. The TAB made them $1.80 favourites to lift the premiership trophy.
‘‘You know it means a lot when you’re defending like that when the result’s not critical, but the mindset is,’’ coach Scott Robertson said.
Taranaki are the only team to beat Canterbury this year but will need to lift after their 35-17 loss to Tasman who bounced back from three straight defeats.
Tasman set the early pace this season and returned to their high-octane best in New Plymouth to give themselves confidence for a playoff against Auckland, who overcame Counties-Manukau 31-16 in Pukekohe.
It marked a farewell to Counties coach Tana Umaga who takes the reins at the Blues, while Manawatu coach Jason O’Halloran departs for a job as Scotland assistant on a high after a 39-33 boilover in Wellington.
It didn’t stop the Turbos being relegated after a year in the top flight, and O’Halloran gave match officials a nudge on the way out, labelling the standard of television match officials ‘‘disgraceful’’ this season.
There was TMO controversy at the end when Wellington prop Jeffery To’omagaAllen was adamant he’d scored the potential matchwinning try, but was denied.
Still, Wellington’s two bonus points were enough to hold second spot and hosting rights for a semifinal against Otago who pipped them with a late try on September 17. The southern men finished with a rush, nearly notching a century in hammering Northland 54-36 then Bay of Plenty 43-30.
Three games in nine days, including a trip to Invercargill, caught up with Hawke’s Bay as their 13-month shield tenure ended with a 36-30 defeat. Former bay boy Weber darted over for three tries for Waikato before the stunned Magpies finally gathered themselves for one late raid which came up short. It saw Waikato climb out of relegation territory with a prized possession to take back to Hamilton for summer after a largely disappointing season.
Northland’s 36-12 loss to North Harbour in Albany on Sunday put them out of their misery after one of the worst seasons in recent memory by an NPC side. The Taniwha secured their only competition point of the season when scoring six tries against Otago, which boosted their points tally to 143. They conceded a mammoth 420.