Thanks to their victory over Taranaki earlier in the season, Wellington secured the top spot on the Bunnings NPC ladder, finishing with 40 points following the last round of play.
Taranaki’s 42-29 victory in Nelson ended Tasman’s tenure as the Ranfurly Shield holder, which was consoling. Although Tasman and Bay of Plenty shared 38 points at the end, Tasman’s victory over BOP earlier in the season earned it a home quarterfinal, just like Wellington’s did.
Counties Manukau will be played by Wellington, Waikato by Taranaki, Canterbury by Tasman, and Hawke’s Bay by Bay of Plenty. In the round, all of the New Zealanders were noticeable. Ethan de Groot gave Southland’s scrum extra strength during its thrilling victory over North Harbour.
Counties Manukau welcomed back halfback Cameron Roigard to Massey University with immediate impact, as he scored two tries and assisted on another two. Additionally, he witnessed All Blacks teammate and flanker Dalton Papali’i go for a long-distance try, however he hobbled off the pitch towards the end of the second half.
Not barely seven minutes into their Ranfurly Shield match against Tasman in Nelson, Auckland’s awful season was forgotten. In order to score the first try, fullback Zarn Sullivan, who was positioned as first receiver, grabbed the ball near midway, eluded two tackle attempts and quickly crossed the goal line. However, he had a kick charged down five meters from his line three minutes later. As Tasman charged back, halfback wing Timoci Tavatavanawai forced his way through for a touchdown. News for The Daily Rugby
In the rainy circumstances, Auckland suffered huge losses as the first five-eighths were reduced by two scrum penalties and two infractions against Tasman halfback Finlay Christie. Willie Havili scored four goals via penalties. Subsequently, prop Ryan Coxon scored 12 minutes from time by going low in his attempt at the line after Tavatavanawai had given him two excellent lead-up shots. In injury time, they let up an intercept try to wing Caleb Tangitau, which narrowed the gap between them and the rest of Auckland’s defeat.
Rob Rush, the flanker for Northland, broke through the defence to score the opening try 13 minutes into the game, demonstrating their ability to take advantage of opportunities. Five minutes later, their second came via more forward strength from lock Allan Craig, who was waiting on the sidelines for a blindside ball. However, No.
8 Christian Lio-Willie demonstrated his abilities in the 28th minute when he ran through and past opponents to score after accepting a tap penalty 20 meters away. Rivez Reihana, Northland’s first five-eighth, scored right away after Rush cleared the ball on the ground to make room for himself and feed wing Heremaia Murray inside him for the touchdown.
Cameron Millar, one of Otago’s starting five-eighths, intercepted a pass that went wide and sprinted 70 metres to score two minutes into the second half. In the 57th minute, Millar found fullback Finn Hurley in a crowded midfield, and Hurley used his pace to break the defenders and sprint 40 meters for the try, which gave Otago the lead.
After five minutes, lock Fabian Holland was awarded a try following Otago’s lineout maul. Five minutes from the finish, Northland took the lead as substitute prop Remsy Lemisio charged in. However, when this attempt was rejected due to non-grounding, Otago set up camp on Northland’s line.
Just 65 seconds after the game began, Counties Manukau utilised two different spins to get the ball past the line, which allowed wing Blake Makiri to find space, which he effectively utilised to score his maiden try. Josh Grey, their wing, was lost to a cynical play just after the restart, and Manawatū flanker TK Howden scored a touchdown after getting the ball down in a tackle. Halfback Jordie Viljoen was present for the opening five-eighths of the second quarter.
After centre Kyle Brown collected Isaac Armstrong-Ravula’s kick forward, he in-passed it to Caleb Leef, the second five-eighth, who then handed the ball to Viljoen for the touchdown.
Five minutes into the second half, Cam Roigard, a substitute, made his injury comeback memorable by selling a dummy in a goalmouth ruck and scoring a try. Howden gave the home team a second try to take the lead back. Dalton Papali’i, an All Blacks flanker, replaced the earlier player and scored a try by running 45 meters and taking in a blindside pass.
From 40 meters out, the Roigard ran in a second, making two swerves along the route. Makiri scored a second goal following Roigard’s delayed pump, then added a third goal after chasing a kick-through. The home team’s wing Taniela Filimpone pulled one back, but Ioane Moananu, the substitute hooker, finished the scoring with a try.
With one of the greatest performances in recent memory, Josh Bekhuis surpassed the record for Southland appearances, and his teammates gave him an incredible gift. They shut out North Harbour and led 47–7 at the half after scoring nine tries. No. 8 Two minutes into the first half, Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa opened the score.
Then, halfback Lachie Albert scored the second after wing Michael Manson showed off his speed in an incredible run. After fifteen minutes, Hooker Jack Taylor scored his first goal of three. Three minutes later, he scored his second goal through a maul, and ten minutes later, he scored his third. Three minutes before halftime, North Harbour made a response via a goal from halfback Bryn Hall.
Hawke’s Bay got off to a fast start at SKY Stadium with three tries in the opening fifteen minutes and home halfback Kyle Preston in the sin bin. Hooker Tyrone Thompson also scored twice, while fullback Harry Godfrey scored twice as well. However, the ball fell to home fullback Tjay Clarke as the Bay attempted a chip kick to clear the 22-meter area early in the second quarter. Clarke went straight down the sideline to score and initiate Wellington’s counterattack.
That gave the home team a lift, and wing Julian Savea set up a redeeming try for Preston after All Black Billy Proctor started a breakout. Proctor was rewarded with the following try, and a Preston chargedown and recovery occurred shortly before halftime.
