Rugby: Pirates withstand intense Border raid

Pirates fullback Samu Etuati loses the ball in the tackle of Border winger Sikeli Ulukuta during the semifinal won 18-16 by Pirates at Spriggens Park on Saturday. PHOTOS/DEVYN STAINES

A brace of tries to in-form winger Clive Stowers helped Integrity Motors Pirates to an 18-16 semifinal win and a season three-peat over close rivals Waverley Harvesting Border on Saturday.

Pirates deserved their win in the Tasman Tanning premier semifinal, a see-sawing affair at Spriggens Park, but Border will rue two missed penalties which could have stolen the game for them.

Pirates' Manulua Lafi and Border's Sikeli Ulukuta traded penalties early on, while line breaks from the home side's Matt Davis and captain Lasa Ulukuta had Pirates looking the most dangerous.

The boot of Lafi put them in front again after the big Pirates pack destroyed Border in a scrum in front of the posts to earn a penalty and a 6-3 lead.

Sikeli Ulukuta made it 6-all shortly after but from there the home side looked most likely to take a lead into half time.

Stowers had two runs down the wing before running out of space while Samu Etuati had the chance to put the backs in space but his pass went to ground.

Despite Pirates' attacking threat, it was Border who sparked the match to life early in the second half when first-five Fraser Middleton charged down a Pirates clearing kick, regathered and popped it up to Andrew Hamilton to dot down.

Sikeli Ulukuta converted for a 13-6 lead to the visitors.

Pirates needed to respond and Lasa Ulukuta led the way with some storming runs which proved hard to contain before Pirates opened up Border thanks to a Denning Tyrell cut-out pass.

Several phases later it was Tyrell again who dropped a perfectly weighted grubber for Stowers to run on to and claim an unconverted try.

Border extended their lead to 16-11 with another penalty from Sikeli Ulukuta, with the winger threatening to extend it further with a kick and chase if his opposite Stowers had not covered well.

Seconds later Stowers would score what would be the clincher, beating several Border defenders down wing to dot down for his 16th try of the season and level the match, with Lafi's conversion taking the home side in front again at 18-16.

With 20 minutes to go came a moment Premier's top points scorer will want to quickly forget.

PHOTOS/DEVYN STAINES

Whether it was the pressure of the match situation or the noise of the Pirates' fans bashing any bit of tin they could find, Sikeli Ulukuta skied a penalty kick from out in front to squander what turned out to be a golden chance to take the match.

The visitors would have one more shot in the final 10 minutes as this time Ulukuta was relieved of the kicking duties by Jack Lupton, who also missed, albeit with a much tougher kick.

Pirates coach Phillip Morris was rapt with his side's defensive effort, which he said had been a focus in the week's training.

He hailed Stowers and the direction Teryll gave the team.

"I thought he [Stowers] had one of his better games."

Morris said his team had shown character to stay in the match, especially after falling behind early in the second half.

"There's a bit of steel in this group," he said.

"I thought we did all the damage in the first half with our big runners. I think that took it out of Border a little."

Captain Lasa Ulukuta, who was one of the Pirates best players and caused havoc in his first start in more than two months, said he was "over the moon" with the win.

Border coach Ross Williams struggled to hide his disappointment and admitted the match was theirs to win after going ahead early in the second half and with the two late shots at goal.

"I think the intensity was there," he said.

"It was ours for the taking, they got back in with some soft tackling."

However, he said it shouldn't take away from a successful season, with Border having beaten top-of-the-table Ruapehu away and claiming the Grand Hotel Challenge Shield.

"These boys should be really proud of themselves," Williams said.

Integrity Motors Pirates 18 (Clive Stowers 2 tries, Manulua Lafi 2 pen, con) bt Waverley Harvesting Border 16 (Andrew Hamilton try, Sikeli Ulukuta 3 pen, con). HT: 6-all.