Hawke's Bay push Kapiti aside
Hawke's Bay got their Ranfurly Shield challenge off to a winning start when they saw of Heartland side Horowhenua-Kapiti 50-16 in a difficult match at McLean Park on Thursday.
Horowhenua-Kapiti, who were the clear underdogs before the match, put up a good fight and were just four points adrift the Magpies with 15 minutes to play before the floodgates opened.
Kapiti opened the scoring with a Perry Hayman penalty before Hawke's Bay loose fowards' Joseph Penitito and Tony Lamborn scored tries off dominant scrums.
Hayman slotted two more penalties for Horowhenua-Kapiti before Penitito scored his second just before half-time to give Hawke's Bay a 17-9 lead at the break.
Hawke's Bay's Tyrone Elkington-Macdonald increased his team's lead to 11 points early in the second half before Sam Gard'ner scored a try to keep Horowhenua-Kapiti in touch.
The game changed when the visitor's captain, Antony Fox, was yellow carded for a cynical infringement during a Hawke's Bay drive on his own tryline. The extra man advantage helped Hawke's Bay score another three tries through Shannan Chase, Tom Stanley and Mark Braidwood to see off a plucky Horowhenua-Kapiti side.
Scorers:
For Hawke's Bay:
Tries: Penitito 2, Lamborn, Chase, Stanley, Braidwood
Cons: Elkington-Macdonald 4
Pens: Elkington-Macdonald 4
For Horowhenua-Kapiti:
Try: Gard'ner
Con: Hayman
Pens Hayman 3
Teams:
Hawke's Bay: 15 Zac Guildford, 14 Mason Emerson, 13 Jonah Lowe, 12 Billy Ropiha, 11 Shannan Chase, 10 Tyrone Elkington-Macdonald, 9 Ellery Wilson, 8 Joseph Penitito, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 Tony Lamborn, 5 Sanaila Waqa, 4 Trent Boswell-Wakefield, 3 Jarvy Aoake, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, Jason Long.
Replacements: 16 Jorian Tangaere, 17 Mason Kean, 18 Mark Braidwood, 19 Everard Reid, 20 Tom Stanley, 21 Chris Eaton, 22 J'ndre Liebenberg, 23 Lewis Marshall.
Horowhenua-Kapiti: 15 Michael Tambour, 14 Teegan Minkley, 13 Perry Hayman, 12 Luke Harvey, 11 David Thompson, 10 Hamish Buick, 9 Rawiri Broughton, 8 Sam Gard'ner, 7 Antony Fox (captain), 6 Aaron Lahmert, 5 Aaron Lahmert, 4 Sonny Woodmass, 3 Ha'amea Ahio, 2 David McErlean, 1 Kurt Jackson.
Replacements: 16 Jesse Halls, 17 Aaron Kearney, 18 James Tennant, 19 Jock Shaw, 20 Scott Cameron, 21 Michael Papps, 22 Jamie Hinds, 23 Alex Brunskill.
Source: stuff.co.za
