Rugby: Hawke's Bay roll past Southland to extend Ranfurly Shield reign

Hawke's Bay celebrate Ollie Sapsford's try during their victory over Southland. Photo / photosport.nz

Hawke's Bay 69
Southland 24

Hawke's Bay have kept their Ranfurly Shield defence rolling, producing their most dominant performance of the year to leave Southland staggering.

The Magpies ran in 10 tries - five of them to their hookers and four from the maul - as they retained the Log O' Wood for the 14th time.

Another success against Wellington next week would see Hawke's Bay equal the 15-match reign of Canterbury from 2004 to 2006 as the second-longest defence this century.

They would then be in position to make it a sweet 16 in their final home match of the season against Tasman, when another win would see them lock away the Shield for another year.

They were never in danger of letting it slip against a winless Southland at McLean Park today.

Supreme at the set piece and deadly when they spread the ball, Hawke's Bay turned a narrow halftime lead into a comfortable victory with a six-try blitz in the second spell.

The lineout drive, in particular, was an unstoppable weapon for the Magpies, with their variations proving far too tough for Southland to handle.

Starting hooker Tyrone Thompson finished off two rumbling mauls - and added a third try after another clinical attack from a lineout - before substitute Kianu Kereru-Symes crashed across twice more.

"It's unreal," Thompson told Sky Sport. "The boys were mean today. We seem to always turn up when it's at home.

"There was one wobbly [maul] there, but I managed to get it right. We did all right - got over the line. It's easy when you've got some good boys in there who know their role."

Those roles proved rather diverse today, with both Thompson and prop Pouri Rakete-Stones as dangerous with ball in hand as they were at the set piece.

Rakete-Stones scored a brilliant opening try to level the scores after an early Southland scare, and Thompson's brace was required to lift the hosts to a 24-17 lead at the break.

But the Stags were always likely to tire, having completed three times as many tackles as their opponents in an entertaining first half, with Thompson's hat-trick opening the floodgates after Neria Fomai had resumed the scoring.

Ascendancy on the scoreboard granted the Magpies a level of freedom that delighted the home fans, attacking with variation and leaving the visitors unable to counter.

Ollie Sapsford crossed for a couple of tries, including one after the hooter as the hosts remained relentless, while flanker Marino Mikaele-Tu'u was even able to nail a curling sideline conversion to celebrate his 50th game for the province.

The victory put Hawke's Bay right on the heels of conference leaders Waikato - and saw their imposing reign extended by another week.

Hawke's Bay 69 (Tyrone Thompson 3, Kianu Kereru-Symes 2, Ollie Sapsford 2, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Brad Weber, Neria Fomai tries; Lincoln McClutchie 7 cons, pen, Marino Mikaele-Tu'u con)
Southland 24 (Rory van Vugt, Robbie Robinson, Viliami Fine tries; Marty Banks 3 cons, pen).
Halftime: 24-17