'Cuddles' crucial try

SHANE HURNDELL
Early last week Sam Giddens was being hassled about the fact he hadn't scored a try for the Hawke's Bay Magpies rugby side.
"Shoey (his Kelt Capital Magpies midfield partner Jason Shoemark) was giving me a hard time as we reflected on my intercept against Manawatu being disallowed. I told him I would score one at a crucial time,"' he said after the Magpies booked an Air New Zealand Cup semifinal against Auckland at Eden Park on Saturday night with yesterday's 38-35 quarterfinal win against Waikato at Napier's McLean Park.
And Giddens or "Cuddles" as he is nicknamed was bang on. They don't come more crucial than his matchwinner with two minutes remaining, which first-five-eighth Matt Berquist converted to end the scoring.
Ironically it was Shoemark he dummied to on the way to the tryline before touching down to send 7800 Magpies fans into party mode yet again. And there were no prizes for guessing who "Cuddles" gave a big hug to as he left the field - injured captain Danny Lee who broke his leg the previous week.
"That try was for Danny," Giddens said. Just as ecstatic as Giddens, was another of the Magpies first time tryscorers, Lee's deputy halfback Chris Eaton. "I'm stoked. That's my first try for the Bay and this game is my career highlight ... I've never experienced this before," Eaton said.
"The last time I saw such a noisy crowd here was when I was a kid watching the Magpies beat the Lions in 1993," said the 23-year-old who was making his second start in the Cup.
His 35th minute try followed a 22 metre solo run from a ruck. With Berquist's conversion it put the Magpies ahead 15-11.
Eaton said when the Magpies trailed 35-24 with 20 minutes remaining captain Michael Johnson, who led another courageous effort from the Magpies forwards, assembled the Bay team for a pep talk.
"MJ held us back and said there was plenty of time left and just asked for everything from the boys for the final quarter," Eaton said.
"Now I can't wait to get stuck into Auckland," he added. Ten minutes after Johnson's talk the Magpies were trailing 35-31 after Giddens put replacement fullback Israel Dagg over for a try. Berquist, who did well to kick seven of his eight attempts at goal in the windy conditions and score 18 of the Magpies points, added the conversions and it was all on.
Winger Zac Guildford scored the first of the Bay's tries in the 26th minute. As he has done so often this season Guildford won the chase after a clever kick ahead from Shoemark.
Magpies coach Peter Russell rated the victory as the highlight of his coaching career.
"It has to be ... I'm ecstatic. This is one of the best competitions in the world and we've got a semifinal." Russell said the talk at halftime was all about beating Waikato's rush defence.
"We knew if we took one step we would get through and the boys followed the plan brilliantly.
"We'll definitely have a few tonight (yesterday) but in the morning it will be recovery time and then back to work again," Russell added.
Waikato coach Warren Gatland agreed his troops weren't clinical enough during the final 10 minutes. "We basically shot ourselves in the foot and were not good enough to close the game down. Hawke's Bay kept trying and kept coming at us," he said.
"The disappointing thing for us is they scored a couple of tries off set moves, by putting a couple of guys in holes. In fairness they have come back and won and the better team won on the day," Gatland said.
Asked how he rated the Bay's chances against Auckland, Gatland said the Bay will find the going tough.
"But semifinals are one off games and if Auckland have already got their minds on the final anything could happen," he added.