Hawke's Bay eyes spot in Final
Hawke’s Bay’s eased to a 44-14 win over Counties-Manukau in the NPC at McLean Park in Napier on Sunday.
The hosts ran in six tries in a dominant display to all but ensure they’ll line up in the championship Final against Manawatu in a fortnight’s time.
Karl Lowe dotted down twice for the Bay, while Andrew Horrell was a steady boot knocking over 14 points.
The result propelled the Magpies to a share of top spot on the competition table, alongside Manawatu – with two games remaining on their schedule.
Even if the Bay lose both without bonus points, third-placed Otago can only tie them with wins and bonus points in their final two outings.
* Earlier on Sunday, Otago ensured Tasman’s stay at the bottom of the NPC Championship ladder continued with a 19-16 win in Nelson.
Glenn Dickson kicked a last-minute penalty to enable Otago to sneak the win.
It came in the final act of the game when Buxton Popoali’i almost scored and Tasman prop Fai Mika was ruled offside.
It was Otago’s fifth win in eight matches.
Sunday’s scorers and scores:
Tasman 16-19 Otago:
The scorers:
Tasman:
Try: Hoeata
Con: Goodman
Pens: Goodman 3
Otago:
Try: Popoali’i
Con: Dickson
Pens: Dickson 4
Teams:
Tasman: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Robbie Malneek, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Andrew Goodman (captain), 11 Lucky Mulipola, 10 James Marshall, 9 Steve Alfeld, 8 Mark Bright, 7 Shane Christie, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Joe Wheeler, 4 Pablo Heuete, 3 Sam Prattley, 2 Quentin MacDonald, 1 Fai Mika.
Replacements: 16 Vernon Fredricks, 17 Francis Smith, 18 Riki Hoeata, 19 Poff or Squire, 20 Shawn Begg, 21 Jack Umaga, 22 Mitchell Scott, 23 Hamish Cochrane.
Otago: 15 Ben R Smith, 14 Joe Hill, 13 Ben Atiga, 12 Glenn Dickson, 11 Buxton Popoali’i, 10 Tony Brown, 9 Sean Romans, 8 Andrew Stead, 7 Regan Tamihere, 6 TJ Ioane, 5 Tom Donnelly (captain), 4 Daniel Ramsay, 3 Kees Meeuws, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 James McGougan.
Replacements: 16 Jason MacDonald, 17 Pieter van der Merwe, 18 Rob Verbakel, 19 Gareth Evans, 20 Johnny Legg, 21 Hayden Parker, 22 Jayden Spence, 23 Scott Manson.
Referee: Kane McBride
Hawke’s Bay 44-14 Counties Manukau:
The scorers:
Hawke’s Bay:
Tries: Lowe 2, Jackman, Tameifuna, Paulino, Buckman
Cons: Horrell 4
Pens: Horrell 2
Counties Manukau:
Tries: Aki, Stowers
Cons: Semple, Kerr
Teams:
Hawke’s Bay: 15 Mark Jackman, 14 Richard Buckman, 13 Tu Umaga-Marshall, 12 Andrew Horrell, 11 Gillies Kaka, 10 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 9 Chris Eaton, 8 Mike Coman (captain), 7 Karl Lowe, 6 Trent Boswell-Wakefield, 5 Bryn Evans, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Hikawera Elliot, 1 Kas Lealamanua.
Replacements: 16 Danny Logan, 17 Brendon Edmonds, 18 Maselino Paulino, 19 Adam Bradey, 20 Isaac Paewai, 21 Tua Saseve, 22 Sinoti Sinoti, 23 Jody Allen.
Counties-Manukau: 15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Ahsee Tuala, 13 Niva Ta’auso, 12 Reynold Lee-Lo, 11 Sherwin Stowers, 10 James Semple, 9 August Pulu, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Mark Selwyn, 6 Adam Cathcart, 5 Chris McLaren, 4 Ronald Raaymakers, 3 Matt Talaese, 2 Mark Price (captain), 1 Peter Hale.
Replacements: 16 Suliasi Taufalele, 17 Jeremiah Fatialofa, 18 Jamie Chipman, 19 DJ Forbes, 20 David Bason, 21 Baden Kerr, 22 Bundee Aki, 23 Ihipa Thompson.
Referee: Glen Jackson
