Bay of Plenty hold off Southland

NPC SUNDAY WRAP: Bay of Plenty has snapped a six-game losing streak in dramatic style with a 26-22 win over the Southland Stags in Invercargill.

The visitors, winless since August 23, dominated the early exchanges off the back of some tigerish loose forward play by No.7 Mitch Karpik.

While, The Tasman Mako have again established their NPC credentials following a fine 47-21 victory over Otago under Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium roof.

The foundations of the comprehensive win were laid in the first stanza, after which the Mako led 28-0, working off a sound set-piece, a sterling Ethan Blackadder display, and punishing any Otago turnovers.

Southland 22-26 Bay of Plenty

The first try went to wing Bailey Simonsson from an 8-9-14 scrum play. The Steamers had the better of the scrum battle, but the next try, to hooker Tom Crozier, was from a drive off a lineout, just a minute after the same player had been held up over the line.

Wing Lewis Ormond put the Stags on the scoreboard thanks to a superb offload by his flanker Tony Lamborn and came after the Stags had racked up 11 phases.

Karpik gave the last pass to wing Fa’asiu Fuatai, who crossed in the corner after a lineout move. At 19-5 to the Steamers, hope looked forlorn for the home side.

But the Stags forwards were still industrious and, in lock Manaake Selby-Rickit and tighthead prop Morgan Mitchell, they had two of the game’s outstanding figures. Mitchell scored between the uprights not long before the half to cut the deficit to seven.

Emerging from the sheds in grimly determined fashion, the Stags set about the climb back in seeking to break an 18-match, 729-day losing streak.

Isaac Te Tamaki gave them real hope with a sizzling 50m solo try, beating Chase Tiatia with a feint and shimmy after the initial thrust from Ray Nu’u.

The Stags’ defence was derailing the Steamers’ offence where errors were creeping in. The visitors lost all fluency for large tracts.

The boot of James Wilson had given the Stags a 22-19 lead, but Steamers lock Kane Leaupepe finished strongly to go between the sticks. It was back to a 26-22 advantage, Bay of Plenty.

Ben Fotheringham’s sinbinning with three minutes to play for collapsing a maul appeared to have put the final nail in the Stags’ coffin. But the Steamers failed to clear from a scrum and then had to endure three agonising minutes after the siren as they desperately sought to shut down the withering home finish.

The Stags secured just one bonus point, when they might have felt they deserved more. The Steamers, while pleased with the win, will be deflated that they are just out of Championship semifinal qualification range,

Southland has a very short turnaround, hosting Auckland on Wednesday night, while Bay of Plenty will host Northland in Tauranga next Saturday afternoon.

The scorers:

For Bay of Plenty
Tries: Bailey Simonsson, Tom Crozier, Fa’asiu Fuatai, Kane Leaupepe
Cons: Kaleb Trask 3

For Southland
Tries: Lewis Ormond, Morgan Mitchell, Isaac Te Tamaki
Cons: James Wilson 2
Pen: James Wilson

Otago 21-47 Tasman

The upshot is that the 8-1 Mako shoot back to the top of the Premiership table on 38 points, just clear of Canterbury and Auckland. The latter has a game in hand.

Otago, despite this reality check, is still on for a home Championship semifinal, in third position, but will now be cheering their Mako opponents against the Magpies in the last round.

The Tasman front-row of Wyatt Crockett, Andrew Makalio and Tyrel Lomax put Otago under the knuckle from the first scrum, but the first score did not come until the 14-minute mark when pressure led to first five Mitch Hunt waltzing over in space.

Makalio was next on the scoresheet, diving over from another well executed lineout drive.

Fullback Will Jordan was again in imperious form, racking up a hat-trick, taking him to nine for the season. The first started from an 80m counter-attack in which wing Tima Faingaanuku played a prominent part.

By the time skipper David Havili speared over off for a superb team try, the Mako led by 28 points. Otago assistant coach Ryan Martin said the halftime message was clear: ‘Put up the white flag or the blue and gold flag.’

Unsurprisingly, the Razorbacks chose the second option, stiffening up their defence and punching holes in the usually impregnable Mako defence. That led to three tries, to wing Matt Faddes, midfielder Sio Tomkinson and flanker Slade McDowall.

Unfortunately for Otago, Tasman was far from finished on attack, two more Jordan tries again showcasing the Mako ability to move the ball into space and be clinical off turnovers.

Otago now gears up for a shot at the Ranfurly Shield, next Saturday in Hamilton against Waikato, while Tasman hosts Hawke’s Bay on Thursday night in Nelson.

The scorers:

For Tasman:
Tries: Will Jordan 3, Mitch Hunt, Andrew Makalio, David Havili, Tima Faingaanuku
Cons: Mitch Hunt 6

For Otago
Tries: Matt Faddes, Sio Tomkinson, Slade McDowall
Cons: Sio Tomkinson 3

@Mitre10Cup