Rugby: Hawke's Bay lock away Ranfurly Shield with Bunnings NPC win over Waikato

Neria Fomai of Hawke's Bay celebrates his try during the win over Waikato. Photo / Getty

The Ranfurly Shield remains locked away in Hawke's Bay.

In their final defence of the season, the Magpies got the better of Waikato in a physical and frantic encounter in Napier, with the hosts outlasting the challengers to take a 41-14 win.

A second half onslaught from the hosts saw the score line blow out after Waikato got the better of the first half, with the visitors finding themselves on the wrong end of a slew of penalties and, having emptied their bench earlier in the half, fatigue setting in.

Before the match even started, Waikato were having troubles as first five-eighth Fletcher Smith pulled up with an injury in warm ups and instead moved to the bench. Then, in the first play of the game, Waikato halfback Xavier Rowe was injured after taking a heavy hit from Hawke's Bay winger Jonah Lowe.

The first play of the game really set the tone for the night. Hawke's Bay No10 Lincoln McClutchie put up a floating kick-off, allowing time for the chaser to get there as it landed. Roe was the unfortunate one to be underneath it, and was hit as he tried to move it on.

The ball hit the deck and led to a scramble, which saw Hawke's Bay come away with it and deep inside opposition territory. That led to the opening try of the game, with hooker Jacob Devery scoring in classic Hawke's Bay fashion – from the back of a lineout drive.

Waikato hit back just minutes later in similar fashion, before Hawke's Bay midfielder Danny Toala sparked a break in the middle of the park and was the benefactor two phases later.

Roe succumbed to his injury after 22 minutes, but the introduction of Cortez Ratima saw the Waikato attack kick the tempo up. After some sustained pressure, Waikato answered through winger Liam Coombes-Fabling and the conversion saw them take a 14-12 lead into the break.

Waikato were forced to make another change at halftime, with lock Laghlan McWhannell failing a head injury assessment and unable to return.

After pushing the hosts, discipline began to let Waikato down early in the second half, and it was a theme of the second stanza as the side kept welcoming Hawke's Bay into attacking territory.

A spectacular play from McClutchie saw the beginning of the end as, after avoiding a tackle, he was able to get in space and launch a cross field kick into the hands of Neria Fomai on the wing - perfectly judging the weight of the kick to just clear the defender enough.

From that moment on, it was one-way traffic. While Waikato were able to play the possession game in the first half and limit counter-attacking opportunities for the Hawke's Bay, the same couldn't be said for the final 20 minutes.

Hawke's Bay ran in four second half tries and held Waikato scoreless in the second period to lock the Shield away for the summer and further improve their position at the top of the premiership ladder.

Hawke's Bay 41 (Neria Fomai 2, Jacob Devery, Danny Toala, Tom Parsons, Ollie Sapsford tries; Lincoln McClutchie 4 con, pen)
Waikato 14 (Steven Misa, Liam Coombes-Fabling tries; D'Angelo Leilua 2 cons)
HT: 12-14