Rugby Union

The two best teams from the regular season will contest the NPC final on Saturday, as Canterbury host Otago. The Cantabrians will be aiming for their 15th title and they were looking every bit like the favourites for most of the season, winning their first seven games and recording an average margin of victory of 20 points across that span. However, a loss to this very Otago team in a Ranfurly Shield defence proved that the red and blacks were not unbeatable, before a B-team went north to Whangārei and played out a 19-19 draw to jeopardise their spot on…

The quarterfinals are upon us, with the second-place Otago hosting the seventh-place Waikato to get the action started. It was a standout season from Otago, who went from strength-to-strength as the season progressed, resulting in an 8-2 record, ownership of the Ranfurly Shield over summer and a five-game win streak heading into finals. That’s quite the form line to take into this point of the season, and last week’s 51-17 showcased Otago at their ruthless best. As has often been the case for the Razorbacks this season, they weren’t amazing out of the gates, taking a good 20 minutes to…

North Harbour were valiant in their Ranfurly Shield challenge but they couldn’t keep up the fight for the full 80 minutes, eventually falling to a 41-26 loss. Harbour were every bit in the fight in the first half, scoring two of the game’s first three tries for a 14-7 lead. However, they faded in the final 10 minutes of the half, allowing the hosts to score twice, meaning NH would go into the break down 14-21 and they would never recover from there. A pair of quick tries in the final 10 minutes gave Harbour the smallest of sniffs, getting…

Hawke’s Bay were outclassed on Friday, losing to Taranaki 24-38 to continue their run of up-and-down performances. It was an absolute slog of a first half, with the Magpies scoring first through Neria Fomai, only for the Bulls to respond on the stroke of halftime for a 5-7 lead. Hawke’s Bay withstood plenty of pressure in their own 22 in that opening 40, but they couldn’t keep up that defensive effort in the second half, conceding four tries and a slew of penalties around the park to see the hosts end up winning comfortably. It was a very poor day…

Taranaki have slipped into a bit of a purple patch, now with three losses in their last four games after a tough 26-28 loss to Otago last Saturday. It was a high-level contest throughout and it looked as though the Bulls were going to come out on top at the 60-minute mark, as Arese Poliko barged his way over the line for a 26-14 lead, but a scoreless final 20 from the visitors resulted in a disappointing defeat. To make matters worse, Josh Jacomb missed a very kickable penalty goal with just six minutes on the clock that could well…

Northland’s two-game winning run came to an end last week, as they fell to Otago 10-29 in Dunedin. It was a game in which the Taniwha were somewhat comfortably outclassed by the hosts in the second half, after the teams played out a gruelling and somewhat sloppy first half for a 7-7 halftime scoreline. Rob Rush’s 45th-minute yellow card proved to be the turning point, with Otago opening the second half’s scoring and then starving the Taniwha of clear-cut try-scoring chances, making it a long 40 minutes for the visitors. Despite the scoreline, it was a monster defensive effort from…