NPC semifinals confirmed

NPC SUNDAY WRAP: With only two weeks to play in the domestic season, finalists and semifinalists have been confirmed across New Zealand’s National Provincial Cup.

Auckland finish top of the Premiership table and will host Wellington at Eden Park next Saturday, while the 2017 NPC finalists Tasman and Canterbury will face off in the other semifinal in Nelson.

In the championship Waikato claim home advantage against Northland while fresh from claiming the Ranfurly Shield, Otago will play Hawke’s Bay in the other semifinal.

Auckland finished at the head of the NPC Premiership table ahead of next week’s semifinals when beating North Harbour 45-29 at Eden Park on Sunday.

It was an impressive display by the home side who reversed last season’s 50-point loss to post a record score against North Harbour, with No.8 Akira Ioane in outstanding form, a constant menace off the back of the scrum and having a direct influence in many of Auckland’s seven tries.

Manawatu made good use of their All Blacks to secure a 38-26 win over Southland in their NPC Championship game in Palmerston North on Sunday.

Auckland 45-29 Eden Park

This was more of a classic contest between the two neighbours, North Harbour making a strong start, missing early chances but finally getting across from a line-out drive situation with prop Luatangi Li at the bottom of the maul and over the line.

Seven minutes later, in the 17th minute, Auckland turned on its own drive from a line-out penalty and after the forwards had worked the ball around it was halfback Jonathan Ruru who slipped around the side to score.

Akira Ioane made the most of a slip just as he took the ball from the base of a midfield scrum. He recovered, made ground and then fed flank Dalton Papali’i who ran hard towards the line in a fine run before finding skipper and second five-eighths TJ Faiane on his shoulder to take the pass and score.

Three minutes from the half-time hooter, Faiane was in again after a kick ahead, chase and regather by wing Salesi Rayasi. He set up a ruck out from the North Harbour line and Ruru found flyhalf Harry Plummer on the short side. He then had Faiane outside him and he retained his balance to skip alongside the sideline and score.

But North Harbour kept the ball alive after the restart and two minutes after the hooter had sounded, and with Auckland under a red zone penalty warning, North Harbour mounted another line-out driving, working the ball through pick and goes to the goalmouth and then swinging the ball back for fullback Shaun Stevenson to cross.

Auckland made the better start to the second half with more Ioane power off a scrum creating momentum which built through phases before hooker Robbie Abel got over in the tackle to take Auckland out to a 26-15 lead. That proved the knocker for North Harbour, as Auckland unleashed their full armoury.

At the 50-minute mark Abel generated another Auckland breakthrough by finding centre Tumua Manu, with lock Fa’atiga Lemalu taking a support pass to feed fullback Jordan Trainor in for a try.

Rayasi scored in the 57th minute, the result of Ioane running the blindside off a scrum, committing a solitary defender and giving Rayasi a free run. Then, when an Auckland move was disrupted, Rayasi tidied the ball, stepped two defenders then dived over in the corner for a second, in the 74th minute. That occurred after Papali’i was sin-binned for a ruck infringement in the red zone, from which North Harbour second five-eighths Harrison Groundwater scored in the 70th minute.

Seconds before the fulltime hooter sounded, Gatland drop-kicked a conversion to a try by prop Tony Tuungafasi.

The scorers:

For Auckland:
Tries: TJ Faiane 2, Jonathan Ruru, Robbie Abel, Jordan Trainor, Salesi Rayasi 2
Cons: Harry Plummer 5

For North Harbour:
Tries: Luatangi Li, Shaun Stevenson, Harrison Groundwater, Tony Tuungafasi
Cons: Bryn Gatland 3
Pen: Bryan Gatland

Manawatu 38-26 Southland

Wing Nehe Milner-Skudder, centre Ngani Laumape and flank Jackson Hemopo all made significant contributions to Manawatu’s win and gave 80 minutes service each, Laumape scoring two tries and Hemopo one, but there was a heavy defensive requirement as the least successful side in the competition, Southland took the attack to Manawatu.

Mistakes at key moments, Southland’s bugbear many times during the year, denied them more success but they could feel satisfied with the quality of some of the tries they scored.

Southland could not have made a worse start. Lock Manaaki Selby-Rickit dropped the kick-off and from a penalty awarded for an off-side play, Manawatu kicked to the corner, worked a maul that crabbed across the field and it was Hemopo who touched the ball down at the base of a goalpost for the try.

Wing Junior Laloifi had a try awarded in the 13th minute, but before the conversion was taken referee Paul Williams saw a replay in which Laloifi’s foot hit the sideline and the try was over-ruled.

Southland cleared the line initially but Manawatu mustered from the line-out, saw another Laumape carry play forward. It was worked right for Milner-Skudder set play up on the right, and when it came left, Laumape came out of the second line, took the gap and fed skipper and flank Antonio Kiri Kiri in for a try.

Southland struck back, however, with a long-range try, initiated by fullback Lewis Ormond, who made two backhand offloads in the play, linking with No.8 Tony Lamborn and flyhalf James Wilson with Isaac Te Tamaki making good ground before prop Morgan Mitchell lumbered through to take a support pass and score.

That seemed to lift Southland and they unleashed another fine run from their own half when from a turnover centre Raymond Nu’u broke through in midfield to run hard into space and when tackled he slipped the ball back for Wilson who was well placed in support to score to level the scores at 14-14.

That All Black connection helped Manawatu again in the 32nd minute with a scrum out from Southland’s line. Milner-Skudder took the ball at first receiver, charged into the tackle and slipped the ball to Laumape for the try.

Southland levelled again with another fine try at the start of the second half, initiated by a Lamborn turnover but capitalised on by some fine elusive play by Nu’u and support from Morgan and hooker Jesse MacDonald before the ball was cleared to the backs where Wilson’s long pass allowed Ormond to run into the gap.

But having looked so likely a simple thing like a charge down of a Wilson 22m clearing kick saw Kiri Kiri score his second to rock the visitors again.

Laumape scored again in the 58th minute when after a long period on attack, Black slipped a kick through to the goalline and it sat up perfectly for Laumape to snatch it down to score. That was in contrast to a similar play for Southland where the bounce from a Wilson kick was wicked, denying two players and resulting in a knock-on conceded.

There was another comeback from Southland when after a nine-phase play another long pass from Wilson allowed Ormond to score his second try.

The last play of the game summed up Southland’s season, replacement wing Aleki Morris-Lome was diving for a try in the corner but the ball dropped free after his arm was knocked by Manawatu fullback Sam Malcolm.

The scorers:

For Manawatu:
Tries: Jackson Hemopo, Antonio Kiri Kiri 2, Ngane Laumape 2
Cons: Otere Black 4
Pen: Jade Te Rure

For Southland:
Tries: Morgan Mitchell, James Wilson, Lewis Ormond 2
Cons: James Wilson 3

Semifinal fixtures:

NPC Premiership semifinals:
Tasman v Canterbury, Friday 19 October, kick-off 19.35 at Trafalgar Park, Nelson
Auckland v Wellington, Saturday 20 October, kick-off 17.05 at Eden Park, Auckland

NPC Championship semifinals:
Waikato v Northland, Saturday 20 October, kick-off 14.35pm at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton
Otago v Hawke’s Bay, Saturday 20 October, kick-off 19.35pm at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

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