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Steamers beat Magpies in Battle of the Bays

Aaron Goile

The Ranfurly Shield is gone and now Hawke’s Bay can’t claim to be called ‘The Bay’ either.

A week after losing their strong grip on the Log o’ Wood, the Magpies dropped a second NPC game in succession in their Battle of the Bays contest against Bay of Plenty at the Tauranga Domain yesterday.

Having not won on Steamers turf since 2011, it again proved too stiff an ask for Hawke’s Bay, in a 20-14 defeat which saw them go scoreless in the second half, despite plenty of opportunities.

In a match which saw prop Aidan Ross celebrating his 50th for the province, Bay of Plenty were led by a sublime display from wing Emoni Narawa, in a result which saw them claim back the Macrae-Shelford Bay Cup and also seal their quarterfinals berth in the Odds conference.

After Narawa strolled in to open the scoring in the sixth minute thanks to a brilliant long ball from Inga Finau, the Magpies surged back into the contest in the second quarter, taking a 14-10 lead to the break after a rolling maul try to Devan Flanders was followed by a beauty when Sam Smith charged a Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi kick, and Tyrone Thompson made a great burst to send Ollie Sapsford away.

But the match duly swung back the home side’s way after halftime, the Steamers taking less than two minutes to get back in front, in superb style at that, as Narawa made an outstanding burst through what seemed like half the Magpies line-up, before offloading for Nikora Broughton to dive over.

Enjoying a huge advantage in both possession and territory, Bay of Plenty cashed in again before the hour mark, with a huge wide ball from Kaleb Trask having Nigel Ah Wong canter in.

Then, while Narawa’s brilliant chip and chase effort was cancelled out by the TMO for a Joey Walton forward pass, the Magpies weren’t clinical enough to find a hit-back. With two minutes left Manaaki Selby-Rickit came up with a crucial ruck turnover penalty, but the Steamers’ fans still had hearts in their mouths in the final stages.

With a kickable penalty inside the final minute they opted for touch, lost their lineout, then

with a penalty of their own the Magpies kicked to the 22-metre line as they hunted a converted try well after the siren.

But with the ball brought to midfield it was replacement flanker Penitoa Finau who got over the ball to have referee Angus Mabey reward his side with the most crucial of penalties.

Tasman have given their quarterfinal chances a boost in the Evens conference and put a dent in Northland’s, after a 52-17 win in Nelson.

The Taniwha hadn’t beaten the Mako since 2012, and never looked like changing that rough run in a defeat which, having started the competition so well, was a third on the trot.

The hosts went to halftime with a healthy 21-3 lead after three well-taken tries off their solid scrum platform.

Levi Aumua opened the scoring in the 19th minute when barging onto a great offload from Willy Havili, then the exciting No 10 had his own try five minutes before the break on the back of fine runs from Noah Hotham and Macca Springer.

Right on halftime it was an even longer-range effort, from halfway, when more quick ball had Aumua charging in space and putting Alex Nankivell over.

The halftime break brought no respite for the visitors, as just five minutes into the second spell Aumua steamrolled his way over from a close-range lineout to give the Mako their bonus point.

Northland did manage a couple of tries to get them back to 31-17 entering the final quarter, however Springer proved pivotal in clinching it, athletically intercepting a pass and sending Hotham on a 40-metre dash, before coasting over for a fivepointer himself soon later.

SPORT

en-nz

2022-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/286826514566928

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