ITM Cup
Hawke's Bay hold Otago scoreless
ESPN Staff
September 14, 2014
Shannan Chase crosses over for Hawke's Bay in the sides huge win over Otago © Getty Images
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Hawke's Bay 41-0 Otago

Hawke's Bay have come out and hammered Otago in Napier with a 41-0 whitewash to defend the Ranfurly Shield for the first time in the club's history. Hawke's Bay came out firing and looked to have sealed the win within the first 20-minutes of the match.

With a dream start Hawke's Bay were up by three tries within the opening minutes, first coming within the second minute of the match through Ryan Tongia finishing off a great break from Shannan Chase who slipped it over to his opposite winger who finished the forty metre break. Otago were lucky to stem the flow of points for just over 15-minutes before Hawke's Bay found the line again with Chase finishing off a great barnstorming run by Gareth Evans to touch down under the posts.

After a final try from Hawke's Bay Otago finally had a chance at putting points on the board minutes before heading into half-time but blew their chance and headed into the sheds down 31-0.

Although Otago came out stronger in the second half, Hawke's Bay were just too good as they converted a penalty and crossed over for their sixth try of the match and kept Otago scoreless to hold onto the Ranfurly Shield for another week.

Waikato 26-21 Counties Manukau

Waikato proved too strong for Counties Manukau 26-21 in their ITM clash in Hamilton on Sunday.

Waikato got off to a blinding start as three tries in the first 15 minutes established a 19-0 lead. Winger Joe Webber touched down twice, both tries converted by fly-half Damian McKenzie, while outside-centre Chauncy Edwardson also found the line.

Ahsee Tuala hit back for the visitors 15 minutes into the second stanza but Webber replied soon after to register his hat-trick. Counties Manukau winger Toni Pulu scored twice with Waikato a man down to reduce the deficit to just five points but Waikato held on in a tense finish.

Southland 36-34 Northland

Southland defeated Northland in another dramatic ITM Cup finale, Lolohea Loco scoring a try for the Stags after the hooter to lock the score at 34-34 before Lima Sopoaga kicked the sideline conversion to claim the victory in Invercargill.

Northland remain top of the Championship ladder after humbling Otago earlier in the week, but the team with eight changes from the line-up that smashed the Razorbacks in Dunedin could not hold on after playing 10 of the final 15 minutes with 14 men

The Taniwha defended their five-point advantage strongly and looked to have secured the points sewn up before they could not resists one final desperate attack from the Stags.

The spectators were provided an entertaining spectacle as both sides looked to put the ball through hands, and both looked threatening at every opportunity as five of the eight tries resulted from slick backline running.

Bay of Plenty 12-27 Auckland

Auckland produced a stunning second-half comeback to beat Bay of Plenty in Rotorua on Saturday.

The Steamers led 12-0 at half-time, after an enterprising display saw tries from hooker Joe Royal and blind-side flanker Johan Bardoul while Auckland were guilty of making far too many errors as they lacked cohesion and intensity.

But Auckland came out of the sheds a different side for the second week running, and they wasted no time turning the scoreline around. A string of penalties against Bay of Plenty only helped Auckland's cause, and two tries to winger Lolagi Visinia in the space of 13 minutes saw the visitors run out winners to win the John Drake Boot. Fullback Gareth Anscombe had a field day in the second half, slotting a conversion and five penalty goals for a personal haul of 17 points.

Auckland moved up to fourth in the ITM Cup Premiership, while the Steamers now languish at the foot of the Championship ladder.

Francis Saili takes on the Bay of Plenty defence in Rotorua © Getty Images
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Canterbury 46-12 Wellington

A ruthless Canterbury thrashed Wellington 46-12 at AMI Stadium on Friday night.

Fly-half Tom Taylor scored the first of his two tries in the 13th minute after excellent lead-up work including a deft flick pass from inside-centre Rob Thompson.

A try to scrum-half Willie Heinz saw the home side establish a 15-0 half-time lead and Canterbury were never troubled in the second stanza.

Wellington's woes were epitomised in the 53rd minute when fullback Jason Wooward failed to mop up a Taylor grubber kick and the chasing playmaker bounded over for his second try.

Eight minutes earlier namesake Codie Taylor picked up a loose ball from a lineout and rather than look for support the hooker showed a remarkable turn of foot to sprint 37m to score.

Tries to Brad Shields and Christian Lloyd were scant consolation for a Wellington outfit that were thoroughly outplayed in all facets.

A delighted Codie Taylor dives over for canterbury © Getty Images
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North Harbour 24-13 Manawatu

North Harbour finally ended their winless streak by beating Championship leaders Manawatu 24-13 at North Harbour Stadium on Friday night.

Harbour, which had not registered a victory since beating Tasman in the middle of last season, remain at the foot of the division equal with Bay of Plenty while Manawatu retain the division lead despite the loss.

The two tries-to-one win was played in atrocious conditions but Harbour deserved their spoils thanks to a stoic defensive effort in the second half.

Harbour held a slender 11-10 lead at half-time thanks to a simple overlap try to wing Luke Devcich, although Manawatu hit back six minutes later through Callum Gibbins, who surged over in a driving maul from a lineout.

Harbour inside-centre Peter Ahki shrugged off several Turbos defenders to score a soft try near the sticks five minutes after the break to establish an 18-10 lead, and while both sides traded penalties afterwards, Harbour's lead was never threatened.

Tasman 30 - 31 Taranaki

Taranaki moved to the top of the ITM Cup Premiership with a last-gasp win over Tasman at Trafalgar Park in Nelson on Thursday, punishing the Makos for their decision to hunt a bonus-point try while leading by six points with time up on the clock.

Tasman conceded a penalty deep in Taranaki's 22 and the Amber-and-Blacks pounced with a length-of-the-field multi-phase attack finished in style from 50 metres by Waisake Naholo, the winger making a powerful burst to slice through the line and beat three defenders.

The try, converted by Marty McKenzie to claim the win, capped a see-saw game in which Tasman controlled much of the first half, looking dangerous early on when they used the width of the park to play with pace and flair, but Taranaki's hard-working defence held their line to limit the half-time deficit to 11 points with a huge tackle count.

Taranaki claimed the lead with two tries in eight minutes after the break before Tasman were awarded a controversial score through Jimmy Cowan. The sides then traded penalties to leave the hosts well in control until Naholo sliced through to steal the win.

Jack Ram scored two tries for Northland © Getty Images
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Otago 23-40 Northland

Northland overcame the sin-binning of playmaker Dan Hawkins to blow Otago Razorbacks off the park at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Wednesday.

Hawkins was binned for taking wing Fa'asiu Fuatai out in the air in the second half, but the 14-man Taniwha, who led by just one point at the time, prevented their hosts from scoring and posted two converted tries to run away with the result after the playmaker returned.

Northland looked to be in trouble at half-time, when they trailed by five points after Otago had dominated possession and territory, but the hosts' handling let them down in the second stanza while the Taniwha benefitted from poor one-on-one defence.

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