1995 NPC Results: week 3
From rec.sport.rugby Sun Aug 27 15:02:46 1995
Path: news.uidaho.edu!news.orst.edu!engr.orst.edu!reuter.cse.ogi.edu!qiclab.scn.rain.com!psgrain!quagga.ru.ac.za!waikato!canterbury.ac.nz!wft
From: wft@math.canterbury.ac.nz (Bill Taylor)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.rugby
Subject: NEW ZEALAND NPC - last weekend. (by PAUL WAITE)
Date: 25 Aug 1995 03:39:49 GMT
Organization: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ.
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Poor Paul made a record super-quick posting last weekend, and it was all wasted!
Some trouble with his newsreader. So I am posting this on his behalf.
He said he threw his PC through the window....
-------
Yes, I just retrieved my PC from the garden :)
What pisses me *RIGHT OFF* is that I had it all finished *and*
posted on Sunday evening, the quickest I've ever done it. I
was feeling right pleased at the time! Arrrrrgggh!
Here it is..
NZ NPC
RUGBY IN 1995 _________________________________________
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
--====--
This article features short reports, news,
and results from NPC matches played in New Zealand
for the weekend of 19-20th August, 1995
HEADLINES
~~~~~~~~~
Canterbury successfully defend the Ranfurly Shield for the second
time in as many weeks by convincingly beating Waikato 58-30, and
showing in the process that they are fast becoming a fine side.
King Country once again just failed to capitalise on some fine,
spirited football when they lost 24-15 to Counties who were
celebrating the return of star winger Jonah Lomu.
Wellington visited the deep south and maintained their impressive
recent form by beating Southland 21-16 in a stop-start match.
North Harbour just kept their noses in front of rivals Auckland to
beat them 12-11 in a tight match with little open running play.
The professional rugby wrangle appears to have settled down, with
almost all of the All Blacks said to be committed to signing NZRFU
contracts. Jonah Lomu revealed yesterday that he has signed a 4-year
contract with them, turning down more lucrative Rugby League offers
in the process. Question marks still hang over the future of Marc
Ellis (seen checking out the facilities at Auckland Warriors Ericsson
Stadium), Walter Little, and Glen Osborne. Jamie Joseph, Ant Strachan,
and Blair Larsen are thought to be investigating offers from Japan.
MATCH REPORTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________________________________
### DIVISION 1 ####################################################
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________________________________
CANTERBURY 58 WAIKATO 30 Half-time: 30-6
at Christchurch
Canterbury tries: S Forrest(2), D Gibson, T Matson,
M Mayerhofler, J Marshall, M Brewer
kicks: A Mehrtens(7 conv, 3 pen)
Canterbury produced an afternoon's rugby to delight their fans at
Lancaster Park, as they demolished a spirited Waikato side with
an exciting display of running rugby.
The Waikato side, still very much in the process of rebuilding, were
rocked only 90 seconds into the match through a Simon Forrest try, whose
incisive running from fullback was one of the match highlights.
In a Canterbury team where no player seemed to perform badly, standouts
were Justin Marshall at halfback, Forrest, Andrew Mehrtens (23 points
and prodigious line-kicking), and the loose trio of Greg Smith, Mike
Brewer and Todd Blackadder.
Canterbury had the game won by half-time, but did not let up in the
second half, scoring almost as many points as in the first. Waikato
came out for the second 40 minutes with stronger defence, and more
willingness to chance their arm and run the ball. This paid dividends,
and they ran in some fine tries, with former All Black Matthew Cooper
featuring strongly. The Waikato No.8 Deon Muir looked very quick and
skilful, and in the midfield Scott McLeod looked very good when on
attack, scoring two tries.
Canterbury are certainly looking like a very skilful team, with a
solid ball-winning capacity, as well as a great many options when on
attack. Playing in this form, it will take a very good side to wrest
the Ranfurly Shield from them.
_____________________________________________________________________
COUNTIES 24 KING COUNTRY 15 Half-time: 5-9
at Pukekohe
Counties tries: J Lomu, P Fatialofa
kicks: D Love(1 conv, 4 pen)
King Country tries:
kicks: M Blank(4 pen, 1 drop)
Jonah Lomu celebrated his return to New Zealand, his decision to sign
a four-year contract with the NZRFU, and his first outing in the NPC
for his club Counties with a try against opponents King Country.
For the third time in a row however, King Country can consider themselves
unlucky not to come out winners, in a match where they were leading at
the halfway stage through penalties care of the boot of second-choice
kicker Michael Blank.
First to score was the star of the day, Jonah Lomu, getting his first
touch of the ball 15 minutes into the game in a blind-side move
orchestrated by first five-eighth Danny Love. Thereafter, Lomu was
restricted to a role of trying to run through the middle, seeing no
ball out on the wing, and did not feature much more in the match.
Counties will certainly have to learn how to use him better in the
future, if they want to keep him.
After this try King Country responded by playing to their undoubted
forward strengths, and although not managing to score a try, gained
the lead by half-time through 3 penalties. With 20 minutes to go in
the game, it looked as if Counties would have to pull something out
of the bag. Three penalties later they were just in front, with
7 minutes to go. King Country were, however, denied even a bonus
point when the venerable Peter Fatialofa scored after the Counties
forwards detached from a scrum to drive him over.
_____________________________________________________________________
SOUTHLAND 16 WELLINGTON 21 Half-time: 3-15
at Invercargill
Southland tries: Penalty try
kicks: S Culhane(1 conv, 3 pen)
Wellington tries: G Simpson, N Broughton
kicks: J Preston(1 conv, 3 pen)
Wellington secured a deserved victory over Southland at Invercargill
by 2 tries to 1 (penalty try), and in the process have seemingly
achieved something that their supporters were beginning to think
was impossible - consistency.
For the third match in a row, the Black and Golds put in another
impressive and committed performance, and are beginning to look like
candidates for a top-four spot.
The key ingredients of this win were once again adherence to the basics
of the game: committed defence, strength at the set pieces, secure
second phase play, and a strong-running, penetrative backline.
Southland got off to a bad start through the decision by captain David
Henderson to give away a strong wind advantage in the first half. A
half-time scoreline of 15-3 in favour of the visitors revealed the
magnitude of this error, and Southland were forced to play catch-up
rugby against a side committed to denying them the ball, and dangerous
when in possession of it themselves.
Wellington open-side flanker Gordon Simpson again showed the talent
he has, and the excellent loose-play (numerous Southland turnovers
were a testament to this) was augmented by some dynamic running by
the tight five, particularly from giant prop Bill Cavubati, who
had a storming game.
Wellington's first try came from a strong run through the Southland
midfield by winger Tana Umaga, who passed to Simpson to finish the
move off. The second from Broughton came from some good work by
Simon Mannix who freed his arms in a tackle to put him through.
The game itself was not a free-running spectacle however, with too
many stoppages (36 free kicks and penalties) being whistled up
by the referee.
_____________________________________________________________________
NORTH HARBOUR 12 AUCKLAND 11 Half-time: 9-8
at Takapuna
North Harbour tries:
kicks: W Burton(4 pen)
Auckland tries: O Tonu'u
kicks: A Cashmore(1 pen), C Spencer(1 drop)
North Harbour recorded their second ever win against Auckland, and
one which was both the first and the last to be had at Onewa Domain
in Takapuna, due to their impending move to a new ground in Albany.
Always a tightly-contested fixture due to the intense rivalry, this
match saw North Harbour maintain a slim lead throughout, by dint
of Warren Burton's penalty-taking boot.
Auckland's powerful midfield defence and strong forward play tended
to suffocate North Harbour's natural running game, and dampen the
spectacle somewhat, however the game was still an exciting contest.
Harbour took the wind advantage in the first half, but did not really
make use of it with a kicking game at all. An early casualty was Ian
Jones, who was a doubtful starter with a damaged elbow. He was
replaced by newcomer Chad Eagle.
The only try of the match was scored by Auckland halfback Ofisa Tonu'u.
An exciting Auckland backline move was stopped near the line by
Frank Bunce, who had another excellent game all round. The Harbour
throw-in was won by Auckland and Tonu'u showed his characteristic
strength in going over in the corner. Cashmore missed the conversion.
After half and hour of the first half Harbour were 9-3 up after early
penalties had been taken. A chief worry for Harbour was the dominance
of the powerful Auckland scrum, with All Blacks Olo Brown, Sean
Fitzpatrick, and Zinzan Brooke all back in the side. The loose forward
exchanges were fairly even with Liam Barry starring for Harbour,
especially when Auckland's Mark Carter had to leave the field late in
the game with a forearm injury.
In the second half Auckland came out with a simple game-plan involving
use of the wind to keep the ball down at Harbour's end of the field
with tactical kicking. This worked to an extent, however Harbour
managed to counter-attack through the genius of Eric Rush, Walter
Little and Glen Osborne enough to keep Auckland worried. Only in the
late stages when Auckland finally decided it was time to really put
some pressure on were Harbour hard pushed to keep them out. By then
it was too late.
Despite repeated attempts to take drop-goals, the Auckland side in
the end just did not have enough options on attack, and looked
in general rather rusty and uncommitted.
_____________________________________________________________________
### DIVISION 2 ####################################################
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________________________________
HAWKES BAY 43 MID CANTERBURY 15 Half-time: 19-0
at Napier
Hawkes Bay tries: G Konia(2), A Hamilton, R Randle, C Brownlie
kicks: J Cunningham(3 conv, 4 pen)
Mid Canterbury tries: S Middleton, D McCrea
kicks: S Middleton(1 conv, 1 pen)
The final result belied the fact that Mid Canterbury dominated for
a considerable period in the second half, and made things difficult
for a Hawkes Bay side struggling to find form.
Jarrod Cunningham score the Bay's first 12 points with 4 penalties
in the first 20 minutes, and the first try only came after 32 minutes
through Aaron Hamilton. The conversion made it 19-0 at the halfway
stage.
The bay started the second 40 in fine style with a 60m individual effort
from talented Roger Randle beating three defenders in the process.
At 31-3 Hawkes Bay looked like they might run Mid Canty ragged, but
the visitors scored twice to even up the scoreline somewhat.
Their forwards then exerted control, until the final 10 minutes when
the Bay scored twice themselves.
_____________________________________________________________________
TARANAKI 40 MANAWATU 38 Half-time: 28-19
at New Plymouth
Taranaki tries: Penalty try, K Eynon, N Whiting, J Cameron, M Allen
kicks: J Cameron(3 conv, 3 pen)
Manawatu tries: C Cullen(2), D Rowe, C Davis
kicks: J Holland(3 conv, 3 pen), P Carroll(1 drop)
This was a game which could have gone eitehr way, as amply reflected
by the close final scoreline. Only desperate Taranaki defence in the
closing stages protected their slender lead and enabled them to
come away with the 4 points.
With 28 minutes to go it looked comfortable for the home side as
they led by 40-25. Early in the match NZ Colt and fullback Christian
Cullen showed his exciting skills as he scored first with a fine
solo effort for Manawatu, but Taranaki hit back with two converted
tries to lead by 14-5 after 13 minutes.
Cullen then added his second try which was a tremendous move starting
50m out from the Taranaki line. A try just on half-time from Jamie
Cameron gave Taranaki their 28-19 lead.
The home side then came out firing and were awarded a penalty for
a high tackle close to the Manawatu line.
In the forwards for Taranaki Mark Allen and Gordon Slater impressed,
with good work also from lock Scott Lines and No.8 Andrew Slater.
For Manawatu the loose trio Duncan Rowe, Karl Williams, and Chresten
Davis played well.
_____________________________________________________________________
NELSON BAYS 3 NORTHLAND 83 Half-time: 3-26
at Nelson
Nelson Bays tries:
kicks: C Lott(1 pen)
Northland tries: H Taylor(3), S Cooper(2), D Manako(2),
R Hilton-Jones, T Siale, J Hammond, S Moore,
G taylor, M Going
kicks: W Johnston(9 conv)
Nelson Bays were crushed flat in a 13 tries to nil thrashing, which
also represented their heaviest defeat since being promoted to
Division 2 in 1993.
Northland were 26-3 up at half-time having played against the wind.
Tries came from flanker Richard Hilton-Jones, hooker Tau Siale, and
wingers Hayden Taylor and Stewart Cooper.
In the second half Northland ran tries in almost at will with the
wind behind them, and their tails up. Taylor achieved a hat-trick of
tries, Cooper got another to match his first half effort, and winger
David Manako also scored twice during a brief spell on the field.
Bays were just not in the same league as the rapidly moving Northland
side, and constantly turned the ball over under the pressure of the
high-speed game.
The lineouts were completely dominated by Northland's Taylor and the
locks Eddie Jones and Norman Maxwell. In the loose, Northland also
enjoyed dominance, with Hilton-Jones, John Campbell and captain Glenn
Taylor providing plenty of ball for the team.
_____________________________________________________________________
WAIRARAPA BUSH 51 SOUTH CANTERBURY 15 Half-time: 20-3
at Masterton
Wairarapa Bush tries: D Guildford(2), C Sullivan, M Berry, G Smith, J Reedy
kicks: M Berry(6 conv, 3 pen)
South Canterbury tries: I Howden, B Matthews
kicks: G Dempster(1 conv, 1 pen)
Wairarapa-Bush gunned down South Canterbury in an irresistable fashion
which had even it's most staunch supporters looking surprised as well
as pleased.
Beaten twice so far in te NPC, Bush came out determined to stop the
rot and stop it they did. Apart from the lineouts, Wairarapa dominated
all phases of the game. In the backs Marty Berry starred for the home
side, scoring 26 of Bush's points, including 1 try. Former All Black
Berry's strong running and hard tackling were a feature, and he broke
the South Canterbury line almost at will.
Halfback Mark Percy and winger Colin Sullivan also shone for Bush,
whilst Barry Matthews impressed for the visitors.
_____________________________________________________________________
### DIVISION 3 ####################################################
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________________________________
BULLER 19 THAMES VALLEY 35 Half-time: 19-12
at Westport
Buller tries: J Aldridge
kicks: T Pratt(1 conv, 4 pen)
Thames Valley tries: W Hodges, S Te Mata, R Wilton, G Ellis,
Penalty try
kicks: W Hodges(2 conv, 2 pen)
Two tries in the final couple of minutes made the result a rather
flattering one for Thames Valley over Buller, after they were
16-0 in arrears towards the end of the first 40. Overall Valley
deserved the win for their second half effort however.
Buller scored the first try after only 8 minutes through Jeffrey
Aldridge who got on the end of a move started by Stuart and Coghlan.
With Tony Pratt having a good day with his kicking, Buller were
16-0 up after 30 minutes.
A penalty try to Valley turned the tide, and was followed straight
away with a Greg Ellis run down the touch for another.
In the second half tries were scored by Roger Wilton, Shane Te Mata
and Warren Hodges, with Hodges converting one and kicking 2 penalties.
_____________________________________________________________________
EAST COAST 18 MARLBOROUGH 19 Half-time: 12-9
at Tolaga Bay
East Coast tries: C Paea, I Na Bewa
kicks: F Manuel(2 pen), B Poi(1 conv)
Marlborough tries: R Borrows
kicks: C Forsyth(1 conv, 3 pen, 1 drop)
A 78th minute drop goal from Craig Forsyth denied East Coast it's first
win of the season.
Having dominated the first half and battled on in the second, this
result was hard to take. East spent most of the opening 20 minutes
in the opposition half, but Marlborough scored first with a penalty.
Winger Chris Paea replied a minute later to put the score at 5-3.
Billy Poi then converted a try from Iliatia Na Bewa, and Forsyth
took two more penalties before the referee ended the half.
The second half provided a thrilling finish. Eli Manuel kicked two
penalties, and Forsyth converted a Roger Burrows try.
_____________________________________________________________________
HOROWHENUA 21 POVERTY BAY 37 Half-time: 7-24
at Levin
Horowhenua tries: P Hirini(2), M McGregor
kicks: D Nepia(3 conv)
Poverty Bay tries: J Whitewood(2), M Cox, J Martin, M Ngarimu
kicks: A Rangihuna(3 conv, 2 pen)
The Poverty Bay tight five dominance provided them with the platform
to forge this win over Horowhenua.
Horowhenua opened the scoring, however Bay took control and led
24-7 by halftime. Bay openside flanker Johnny Martin returning
from injury, was in a clas of his own in the loose exchanges, and
locks Emuri Katalau and Mark Johnson dominated at lineout time.
The Bay backs were also dominant, with winger Jason Whitewood twice
outpacing his opposite to score tries.
Horowhenua's Paul Hirini was totally committed, and reaped the just
reward of a brace of tries. Horowhenua first five-eighth Dion Nepia
played well despite ordinary service from his halfback, and No.8
Sam Tovo also competed well.
The best try of the day went to Manu McGregor with a 50m solo effort.
_____________________________________________________________________
WANGANUI 5 WEST COAST 21 Half-time: 0-8
at Wanganui
Wanganui tries: A Nagicu
kicks:
West Coast tries: S Fahey(2), S Fletcher
kicks: M Foster(2 pen)
West Coast achieved an upset in defeating Wanganui by taking it to
the fancied team right from the start. Leading 8-0 by halftime,
they extended this later to 16-0 and managed to achieve an 80%
dominance in terms of territory.
Wanganui just didn't have an answer for the fired-up approach of
teh West Coasters, who were superbly led by captain Shane Fletcher
from the back of the scrum.
RESULTS TABLES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________
NPC DIVISION 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
Canterbury 3 2 1 0 98 65 10
Wellington 3 2 0 1 57 46 9
Otago 2 2 0 0 48 35 8
Counties 2 2 0 0 47 36 8
North Harbour 3 1 1 1 42 50 6
Waikato 3 1 0 2 66 89 5
Auckland 2 1 0 1 24 22 5
Southland 3 0 0 3 56 70 3
King Country 3 0 0 3 40 65 0
_____________________________________________
NPC DIVISION 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
Hawkes Bay 3 3 0 0 93 53 12
Manawatu 3 2 0 1 106 64 9
Northland 2 2 0 0 125 18 8
Taranaki 2 2 0 0 78 50 8
Bay of Plenty 2 1 0 1 59 31 5
South Canterbury 3 1 0 2 66 106 4
Wairarapa Bush 2 1 0 1 72 96 4
Nelson Bays 3 0 0 3 42 147 1
Mid Canterbury 3 0 0 3 42 108 0
_____________________________________________
NPC DIVISION 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
Marlborough 3 2 0 1 97 61 8
Thames Valley 3 2 0 1 85 53 8
Horowhenua 3 2 0 1 74 59 8
West Coast 3 2 0 1 49 32 8
Poverty Bay 2 2 0 0 69 36 8
North Otago 2 1 0 1 43 68 4
Wanganui 2 1 0 1 22 27 4
East Coast 3 0 0 3 47 64 2
Buller 3 0 0 3 45 129 0
_____________________________________________
NEXT WEEK
~~~~~~~~~
Key: RS Ranfurly Shield at stake
= NPC Division I
+ NPC Division II
# NPC Division III
Sat 26th Auckland = vs King Country Auckland
Wellington = vs Otago Wellington
Waikato = vs Southland Hamilton
Northland + vs Bay of Plenty Whangarei
Manawatu + vs Wairarapa Bush Palmerston North
Mid Canterbury + vs South Canterbury Ashburton
Taranaki + vs Nelson Bays New Plymouth
Buller # vs Wanganui Westport
Thames Valley # vs East Coast Coromandel
Marlborough # vs Horowhenua Blenheim
Poverty Bay # vs North Otago Gisborne
Sun 27th Counties = vs Canterbury Pukekohe
Auckland should easily dispose of plucky King Country, whereas the
match to get the mouth watering, Wellington vs Otago at Wellington's
home ground Athletic Park is less easy to pick. The only sure thing
is that the ball will be run non-stop by two sides dedicated to
attacking rugby.
Waikato have their work cut out with a visiting Southland side
anxious to get some NPC points other than a loser's bonus. After
their Jeckel and Hyde display at Canterbury, Waikato will also
be keen to put in a good performance. This one should be a
good game, with the outcome uncertain.
On Sunday Counties will play the ever-improving Canterbury, and
will certainly have to make better use of Jonah Lomu than they did
this week to have a chance of beating them.
Cheers,
Paul.
--
____________________________________________________________________________
Paul Waite doc@docdevl.actrix.gen.nz
Wellington, New Zealand +64-4-233-1764
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