Bridesmaid Counties finally bag bouquet - with flourish

Counties Manukau's Lelia Masaga scores in the corner in their match against Southland in Auckland yesterday. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Counties Man 29 Southland 8

It was just a matter of time, and when Counties Manukau bagged their first national championship win yesterday, it was done with a flourish.

Their five-try beating of Southland was just reward both for their efforts at Mt Smart Stadium yesterday and a pretty decent campaign in which they have picked up bonus points at every stop but fallen short of the big haul.

It was achieved on the back of excellent work by senior pair, captain and halfback Ben Meyer and lock Kristian Ormsby. They snared two tries each, with flying wing Lelia Masaga getting the other.

There were others who made significant contributions and although it was far from the perfect performance, there is a growing sense of achievement within the Counties Manukau squad.

It's no surprise that yesterday they became the first of the promoted unions to have beaten an established Air New Zealand Cup team.

"We tried to cut out a lot of our mistakes from previous games, we got early points and that helped the confidence," Meyer said.

"We've consistently been getting bonus points but to finally get a win, that's great."

Meyer got things moving with two smart tries in the opening quarter, one a classic halfback's dart from close in, the second when Southland blew a lineout throw, Meyer ran round the back, caught the throw and burrowed across.

Southland seemed off colour for much of the match. Their only try, by first five-eighths Blair Stewart four minutes after halftime, should have signalled their revival.

But their hands let them down and Counties kept their heads.

Ormsby is a hard bloke to stop when he has a head of steam up 10 metres from the line, as he showed in the 53rd minute. He almost grabbed a second, but for stout defensive work by Southland hooker David Hall who prevented him forcing the ball over the line.

But Masaga made sure of the win after flanker James Maher and prop Simon Lemalu did well to set the speedy winger on his run to the corner three minutes from the end.

Ormsby did get his second try, a regulation barge over the line from close in, after the final hooter.

Counties will savour yesterday. It's only a small step in the overall scheme of things, but it showed they are moving in the right direction.

* Short of sitting top of their group, Waikato are positioned just where they'd like to be going into the final weekend of pool play.

Their 42-23 win over Hawkes Bay means a five-point win over Northland in Hamilton next Saturday will put them top of pool B, which means at least two home games in the Top Six playoffs.

Waikato had to come back from a sloppy start, when they conceded two tries to the Bay.

It was a ding-dong battle for a long time until referee Matt Stanish sinbinned Luke Ottley 14 minutes from the end. It was 30-23 at that point, but tries to William Ripia and Sosene Anesi eased Waikato clear.

All three loose forwards, Liam Messam, Sione Lauaki and Steven Setephano, scored tries and David Hill shot seven of eight kicks at goal but Hawkes Bay, who had 61 per cent of possession, were big contributors to a rousing contest.

The Bay of yesterday were a far cry from those opening couple of weeks. Left wing Lote Raikabula capped off a fine backline movement in the corner and Nathan Mauger ran 50m, selling a dummy along the way for a long-busting try.

"We didn't get away until the last 10 minutes but we took our opportunities, which was pleasing," captain for the day Jono Gibbes said.

* Bay of Plenty made it two wins in succession at Blenheim, but Tasman played their part in an entertaining match, losing 23-17.

The Bay can't catch third-placed Wellington to make the Top Six playoffs, but a win over Taranaki this week will have them in the right shape for the repechage round starting in a fortnight.

* Manawatu are making the right moves signing coach Dave Rennie for a further two years. He came in late after Charlie McAlister had parted company. It's been a tough few weeks, but this signing is good business.

They gave Wellington some problems too, the Hurricanes' heavyweight union only winning 11-3. So, although getting no points from the contest, Manawatu will have taken more from the match than the winners who have been average most of this campaign.

Conrad Smith got the game's only try as his return to top rugby takes another step forward.

* Otago should be used to losing Ranfurly Shield challenges by now. They haven't held the trophy for 49 years and should have won in Christchurch on Saturday night, only to lose 22-17.

Josh Blackie scored a magnificent try, but Canterbury know how to win tight contests. Ben Blair kicked important points in his final game for the province and the overriding message to come out of this game was if Otago could not win this one, they're never likely to get their hands on the shield again.