Put another log on the Canty fire
At a glance
Back into the Canterbury trophy cabinet goes the Ranfurly Shield, recaptured from south of the Waitaki River from Otago.
While the frantic 35-25 win in Dunedin on Saturday in the final challenge of the season bolstered Canterbury’s prospects of being in the Mitre 10 Cup playoffs, more important was grabbing the Log o’Wood.
One day short of two years since they last held it, Canterbury lifted it for the 16th time – equalling Auckland for most wins.
Championship side Otago scored two tries in the last 10 minutes, but Canterbury sealed a four-tries-to-three victory, after leading by 20-6 at one point.
Canterbury, now third on the table, face fourth-placed North Harbour on Sunday afternoon in what will be a Shield defence.
The round started on Thursday night, when championship leaders Hawke’s Bay downed Counties-Manukau 22-10 in Pukekohe – a result that condemned the home side to relegation from the premiership.
Tiaan Falcon starred in his return from injury as Hawke’s Bay opened a gap at the top of the championship, which by the round’s end amounted to sevenpoints over Bay of Plenty.
Hawke’s Bay can still be overtaken by the Steamers, as they host Premiership frontrunners Tasman next Saturday.
The Magpies took the lead 20 minutes in, Tom Parsons crashing over after Gareth Evans stole a lineout metres from the Steelers’ line.
After spending most of the second half on defence, Hawke’s Bay extended their lead to 12 points with just over quarter an hour to play, as Falcon slotted a penalty from 55m out in his first match in over a year.
Minutes later, Falcon evading several tackles to set up the winning try for Folau Fakatava.
In Tauranga a hat-trick to the flying Joe Ravouvou helped Bay of Plenty to a 46-10 win over Manawatu¯ , and secured a home championship semifinal.
New Zealand Sevens player Ravouvou made it five tries two games, as the Bay cantered victory at the Tauranga Domain.
At a venue where they had scored 50 and 51 in their two other outings this season, the hosts again piled on the points. Manawatu¯ must win in the final round to make the semifinals.
At Eden Park, Auckland kept their top four hopes alive by trouncing Southland 64-7, running in 10 tries.
Auckland remain fifth on the table, two points adrift of North Harbour. They travel to Taranaki on Friday, while North Harbour have the more difficult task against shield holders Canterbury.
North Harbour held off a late Wellington rally on Friday night to firm up their place in the top four, running in five first-half tries on their way to a 42-34 win at North Harbour Stadium.
Wellington retained a firm grip on second place and a home semifinal, which a win at home against Waikato next Saturday will seal.
Former All Black prop Karl Tu’inukuafe scored to put North Harbour in front inside five minutes. After being on the receiving end from then on, Wellington were able to close the gap to 20 points with 20 minutes to play as Kemara Hauiti-Parapara scored on the hour mark.
A series of scrums helped Harbour eat up the clock, but Wellington got their bonus-point try with seven minutes to play, through Sitiveni Paongo, closing within two converted tries.
Harbour were under the pump at that stage, falling off tackles all over the park, and Wes Goosen got one of the tries Wellington needed with two minutes to play, but Garden-Bachop missed the conversion, so they still needed to score twice.
Yesterday, Tasman continued their superb season with a 52-6 demolition of Northland at Trafalgar Park.
Waikato kept their slim finals hopes alive with a 38-19 win over Taranaki yesterday. Needing a bonus-point victory, the home side ran in six tries to three to maintain their slim hopes of a Premiership finals berth. They need another win next week against Wellington.