Hawkes Bay 32
Northland 13
Auckland's season is over, but they can still play a major part in determining the provincial rugby championship's semifinal drama.
Victories by Hawkes Bay and Wellington last night have left Waikato, who play Auckland in Hamilton today, needing a bonus point win in the final Air New Zealand round match to take them into a semifinal against Canterbury in Christchurch.
Wellington, who edged out Tasman by 22-14 last night, will host Southland in the other semifinal.
A late, spectacular Hawkes Bay try to their big No 8 Thomas Waldrom secured the Magpies the bonus point against Northland in Whangarei.
The regular season could come to a tense and thrilling climax at the impressive Waikato Stadium.
Waikato can tonight draw level with Hawkes Bay in fourth position on the table, and would leap ahead of them by virtue of having won their sixth-round battle in Hamilton. But the pressure will be on Waikato from the outset, knowing they need four tries, which in turn could open up opportunities for Auckland.
Hawkes Bay fans will not only look nervously towards Hamilton, but recall how they were robbed of the chance for an extra competition point by an incorrect no-try decision against Sona Taumalolo in the match against Canterbury in the previous round. That point would have them safely into the semifinals.
Unwanted All Black hooker Hika Elliot was one of the Hawkes Bay stars last night, with his rampaging, ball-playing class standing out. The hard-charging frontrow duo of Elliot and Taumalolo are not only a case of double trouble for opponents, but have provided the competition with some of the most memorable sights this season.
Hawkes Bay, with goalkicker Matt Berquist outstanding again, were not really pushed by Northland, yet going into the final stages it looked as though they might miss out on the all important bonus point.
But they strung together a superb move from their own 10 metre line, with the robust Waldrom left to finish the job, skidding over the tryline in a tackle.
Hawkes Bay virtually had the game won by halftime with a 20-6 lead against one of the competition stragglers. Even home advantage was unlikely to allow Northland to escape from that deficit.
The Magpies had started with a roar through a try after 90 seconds to wing Jason Kupa. Northland stemmed the tide but a Taumalolo try, with the hard-hitting prop charging over from five metres after good build up work from Elliot, took the wind out of the home team's sails.
The best for Northland was their captain Jared Payne, playing in the centres, but he was a lone threat against a muscular Hawkes Bay side which showed it was a cut above Northland.
Hawke's Bay: Kupa, Taumalolo, Lowe, Waldrom tries; Berquist 2 pen, 3 con
Northland: Munro try; Munro 2 pen, con
Halftime: 20-6
