Hard work awaits Poverty Bay

As a statement of intent, Wanganui's dismissive back-handing of Heartland Championship rugby rivals Poverty Bay will take some beating.

Wanganui embarrassed Poverty Bay with a 56-0 drubbing in the last round of the Meads Cup competition yesterday.

At the end of the day that meant a semifinal next Saturday between the same teams at the same Wanganui venue.

Poverty Bay were without regular captain Scott Leighton, who missed the match due to suspension, but he will be back on deck next Saturday.

His team will need him and much, much more to simply be competitive after leaking eight tries to a Wanganui side still smarting from their loss the previous week to Mid Canterbury.

Wanganui and Mid Canterbury ended the regular season locked together on 30 points, but that result in Ashburton enabled the southerners to claim the top qualifying place, and with it a home semifinal against neighbours South Canterbury.

Mid Canterbury warmed up for that task with a 24-6 win over Wairarapa Bush in Masterton while South Canterbury leaped past Horowhenua-Kapiti into the fourth qualifying position with a 33-18 win in Levin.

Horowhenua-Kapiti led 15-13 at halftime but a crippling error rate played into South Canterbury's hands as they eventually profited from a wealth of turned over possession.

A breakout try from their own line completed by lock Craig Smith in the final minute encapsulated Horowhenua-Kapiti's woes as they squandered a series of tryscoring opportunities.

Wing Maile Iong'i touched down either side of the break for South Canterbury while Horowhenua-Kapiti's ill discipline was also a regular source of points for goalkicker Kane Wahlstrom, who contributed 18 points.

The Lochore Cup semifinals will also feature a local derby, with top qualifiers West Coast hosting neighbours Buller.

West Coast will carry considerable momentum into the playoff after a surprisingly comprehensive 35-17 win over North Otago yesterday in Greymouth.

West Coast hooker Rowan O'Gorman scored a try after the final hooter to give his side a fourth try and an invaluable bonus point.

O'Gorman's audacious chip kick over the North Otago defence bounced back into his arms and he managed to stretch out and plant the ball across the line.

The team's first bonus point of the season put West Coast one point ahead of North Otago on the standings.

Buller turned a near-monopoly of possession into a 29-17 bonus point win over Thames Valley in Westport after they totally dominated possession.

It wasn't until midway through the second spell that Buller clicked into gear, with three unanswered, late tries to Scott Higginson, Shane Christie and Temi Faifua inflating the scoreline.

North Otago will play King Country in the other semifinal, with King Country running into some form after flogging East Coast 60-14 in Ruatoria.

Replacement winger Gabriel Wills helped himself to a hat-trick of tries as King Country scored 43 unanswered points in the final 25 minutes.

HEARTLAND CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Meads Cup

At Wanganui: Wanganui 56 (Cameron Crowley 2, Aseali Tikoirotuma 2, Fraser Middleton, Peter Rowe, Fraser Hammond, David Gower tries; Denning Tyrell 2 pen, 4 con, Ricky Alabaster con) Poverty Bay 0. Halftime: 25-0.

At Levin: South Canterbury 33 (Maile Iong'i 2, Craig Smith tries; Kane Wahlstrom 4 pen, 3 con) Horowhenua-Kapiti 18 (Paula Kinikinilau, Michael Papps tries; James Proctor 2 pen, con). Halftime 13-15.

At Masterton: Mid Canterbury 24 (Josh Lindsay, Jason Gill tries; Kieran Lindsay 4 pen, con) Wairarapa Bush 6 (Nick Olson 2 pen). Halftime: 6-3.


Semifinals: Mid Canterbury v South Canterbury, Wanganui v Poverty Bay.

Lochore Cup

At Ruatoria: King Country 60 (Gabriel Wills 3, Jared Needham 2, Richard Deed, Rupeni Seduada, Shaun Burr, Brian Mansfield, Aarin Dunster tries; Jared Murrell 5 con) East Coast 14 (Mike King, Jason Babbington tries; Nathan Langsford 2 con). Halftime: 17-7.

At Westport: Buller 29 (Scott Higginson 2, Temi Faifua, Shane Christie, Penjamini Nabainivalu tries; Nathan Thompson 2 con) Thames Valley 17 (Matt Naivalu, Joe Murray tries; David Harrison pen, 2 con). Halftime: 12-10.

At Greymouth: West Coast 35 (Rowan O'Gorman 2, James Ward, Mitchell Simcock tries; Josh Cornish 3 pen, 3 con) North Otago 17 (Ekeroma Sefo, Ofa Fatai, Daniel Waenga tries; Waenga con). Halftime: 24-7.

Semifinals: West Coast v Buller, North Otago v King Country.


- NZPA