Following a strong Kā Māte haka, the Heartland XV immediately applied pressure. Canterbury found themselves down to 14 men in only the second minute after halfback Nic Shearer was yellow-carded for knocking the ball down from an opposition pass.
Despite the player disadvantage, it was Canterbury who scored first. Hooker James Mullan crashed over for a try in the 10th minute and first-five Jack MacLeod knocked over the conversion.
Heartland hit back three minutes later with the first of Roberts-Te Nana’s double. He busted through a small gap in the defence and first-five Sam Briggs converted to lock it up 7-all.
Two minutes later, Roberts-Te Nana crossed the line again, taking the ball out wide and sprinting 20 metres to score in the corner for 12-7.
Momentum was beginning to build for the Heartland XV, whose set-pieces proved to be their bread and butter.
From a lineout maul in the 31st minute, the forwards drove to 5m from the try line and hooker Connor Anderson crashed over on the blindside for the try.
Briggs sent over a difficult conversion to make it 19-7.
Despite limited training time together, Heartland showed cohesion and understanding of their game plan — a testament to the experienced Walsh and his coaching crew.
However, Canterbury were not about to relent and ran in consecutive tries — both unconverted — to fullback Isaac Hutchinson in the space of two minutes to close the deficit to 19-17 at halftime.
The opening 20 minutes of the second half was a battle of defences. Both sides were like sharks circling their prey, waiting for the other to let their guard down.
Substitutions were made by both and Taumata, itching to go, came on for the Heartland side in the 54th minute.
The match turned in the 61st minute when Heartland replacement prop Adam Williamson crossed for a try.
As the saying goes, the floodgates opened .
Whanganui wing Peceli Malanicagi iced his debut with a five-pointer, Williamson completed a double and replacement back Fletcher Morgan joined the try-on-debut club.
Briggs added two conversions as the Heartland side completed a victory that was not as comfortable as the score suggested.
Roberts-Te Nana and Taumata did their respective provinces proud, continuing the tradition of Coast and Bay players in the Heartland jersey.
The Heartland XV headed to Oamaru for their final fixture against the New Zealand Barbarians tomorrow at Whitestone Contracting Stadium. Kick-off is at 2pm.
Coverage of Wednesday’s game is available on YouTube at tinyurl.com/2z77pcfk
