1995 NPC Results: week 7
From: Paul Waite
Subject: NZ NPC 16-17th September
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 16-17th September, 1995
HEADLINES
~~~~~~~~~
Auckland gave warning to those writing them off that they are coming
back to form just at the right time, and cannot be discounted, as
they thrashed Counties 59-24 at Eden Park.
A sturdy performance at the House of Pain saw Canterbury fortunate
to come away with a 26-28 win over Otago, after Otago failed to
win it with a last minute penalty.
Another classy side coming out of the doldrums is North Harbour
who dumped on Southland 51-13, to remind everyone that they
are not yet out of the NPC running either.
Wellington retained an outside mathematical chance of getting into
the top four of the NPC this season, by beating King Country 36-16.
MATCH REPORTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________________________________
### DIVISION 1 ####################################################
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________________________________
AUCKLAND 59 COUNTIES 24 Half-time: 26-3
at Auckland
Auckland tries: C Spencer(3), A Cashmore, L Stensness,
Z Brooke, R Brooke, S Fitzpatrick
kicks: C Spencer(1 drop), A Cashmore(4 conv, 2 pen)
Counties tries: J Vidiri, D Wood, G Leaupepe
kicks: D Love(3 conv, 1 pen)
The sleeping Auckland Giant awoke to burst the Counties unbeaten bubble,
and to put in a performance which will worry most of the NPC hopefuls.
Showing it's customary strength in the forwards, which benefited from
the return from injury of players such as Robin Brooke and Mark Carter,
and hitting scintillating form in the backs, Auckland are beginning
to look like championship favourites once again.
Auckland had Counties on a spit when they scored two excellent tries
in under 8 minutes, and later began to roast them nicely to lead
26-3 by half-time.
With a solid and indomitable forward platform, the Auckland backs
had it all their own way, with first five-eighth Carlos Spencer showing
his best form of the season. The only doubtful performance was that
of Junior Tonu'u who, although playing passably in general, almost
destroyed a try-scoring chance before Fitzpatrick rescued it and
fell over the line, and then, through greediness, threw away another
later in the game when opting not to pass out wide.
With the early setback in the score, and an inability to get good
quality ball, starved as they were by Auckland's performance in the
forwards, Counties could do little for most of the match. They did
manage a resurgence, through Danny Love who found a gap and set his
backs away for a superb try to David Wood who inter-passed 4 times
before going over. But it was simply due to Auckland relaxing. When
they reasserted their control again, they scored a further two
late tries.
With their next match a visit to Canterbury next week for the Ranfurly
Shield challenge, this performance could not have been better timed.
They do have an injury worry however, with Junior Tonu'u having a
foot X-Ray to check for damage.
_____________________________________________________________________
OTAGO 26 CANTERBURY 28 Half-time: 6-18
at Dunedin
Otago tries: P Cooke, J Kronfeld
kicks: T Brown(2 conv, 4 pen)
Canterbury tries: A Tukaki, P Bale, J Marshall
kicks: A Mehrtens(2 conv, 2 pen, 1 drop)
Canterbury put in a sterling performance against a committed Otago
side playing at their stronghold of Carisbrook, to win a match which
might have gone either way in the end.
Looking at the match overall, the impression was that Canterbury
had the edge in terms of options and variation. Otago battled hard,
but always seemed to have to work harder for the yards than did
Canterbury when they broke, and this proved significant.
In the first half the Canterbury tight-five were dominant, and laid
the foundation for two well-deserved tries. Otago were restricted
to a couple of Tony Brown penalties by way of reply.
The second half saw a revitalised Otago side, readier to commit
themseleves to the necessary work and pain to win. The most
prominent of these was All Black Josh Kronfeld, who put in an
inspirational second 40 minutes, scoring a deserved try in the process.
At times Canterbury looked as if they might buckle, but just held on,
showing great character in defence. Another Otago man who caught the
eye was former All Black Arran Pene. Pene, looking heavier and
stronger than he has been before was also in amazing form, tkaing the
ball up through several would-be tacklers every time he got it.
A couple of early second half penalties to Otago narrowed the gap, then
in the 52nd minute they led 19-18 through Kronfeld's try. However
Canterbury hit back with a try as well, and Mehrtens extended the
lead to nine.
Otago replied with a Paul Cooke try in the left-hand corner after
tremendous pressure, and Brown landed the conversion to make it a
tight 26-28. Just before the end Brown had a chance to win the
match with a penalty, but missed, to the disappointment of the
home fans.
Canterbury take this moral-boosting result with them as they now look
forward to their match of the season next week, defending the Ranfurly
Shield against Auckland, who have returned to dangerous form.
_____________________________________________________________________
NORTH HARBOUR 51 SOUTHLAND 13 Half-time: 17-6
at Takapuna
North Harbour tries: P Woods(4), E Rush, F Bunce, G Osborne
kicks: W Burton(5 conv, 2 pen)
Southland tries: S Culhane
kicks: S Culhane(1 conv, 2 pen)
North Harbour joined Auckland in a return to their more usual form
in obliterating luckless Southland in a second half try blitz.
Returning to the Harbour side after being dropped in favour of
the useful Robert Todd for the last two matches, winger Peter
Woods proved that he was too good to be dispensed with, scoring no
less than 4 tries.
Woods opened Harbour's account in the 5th minute, darting over out
wide after selling a dummy. Culhane then brought it to within a
point with two penalties.
Five minutes before half-time, Harbour's loose forward Liam Barry,
who had an outstanding match picked up a loose ball as Southland
were on attack, putting Eric Rush in for an easy 5 pointer, which
Burton converted to 7.
Quick thinking from Ian Jones had Woods in for his second 5 minutes
into the second spell, when he took a quick tap penalty from only
22m out.
All Black Frank Bunce was next in line, scoring from a Southland
breakdown. Burton once again obliged. In the final 20 minutes the
Southland defence showed gaping holes as heads went down. Glen
Osborne evaded three defenders down theleft wing to dampen their
spirits even further.
Culhane scored a consolation try and converted it seconds before
the final whistle sounded.
_____________________________________________________________________
WELLINGTON 36 KING COUNTRY 16 Half-time: 26-5
at Wellington
Wellington tries: R Walker, F Tiatia, J O'Halloran
kicks: J Preston(3 conv, 5 pen)
King Country tries: P Rayasi, D Wilson
kicks: M Blank(2 pen)
Coming off a huge hiding at Canterbury last week, and pitted against
a notoriously difficult side to play in King Country, Wellington
came through despite having key players Simon Mannix and Gordon
Simpson out.
On a windy Wellington day Wellington opted to take the advantage
of it in the first half, and benefited by going out to a 26-5 lead.
However they started weakly, showing woeful defence as King Country
scored first through Rayasi after only 5 minutes. A penalty and then
a converted try through lock Roger Walker saw Wellington go in front
10-5 after 10 minutes.
It was hard going, especially in the rucks, with King Country scrapping
for everything. The referee was kept busy all afternoon with King
Country's offside tactics in the midfield, and a penalty saw Preston
make it 13-5 after 15 minutes.
Then after 23 minutes Filo Tiatia burst through the usually solid
King Country fring defence to score under the sticks. The conversion
and then two more penalties saw the home side to a handy 26-5 lead by
the halfway stage.
King Country failed to gain enough quality possession to use the wind
to great advantage in the second half, and Wellington gradually wound
themselves up in the backs to become dominant as the match went on.
Jason O'Halloran finally broke through to score a try in the 70th minute,
converted by John Preston, and then a final penalty completed the scoring
for Wellington with only 5 minutes remaining.
King Country grabbed a last-ditch consolation try through hard-working
Doug Wilson to finish.
_____________________________________________________________________
### DIVISION 2 ####################################################
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________________________________
BAY OF PLENTY 38 SOUTH CANTERBURY 10 Half-time: 10-3
at Rotorua
Bay of Plenty tries: D Menzies(3), R McDonald(2), M Camp
kicks: A Miller(1 conv, 2 pen)
South Canterbury tries: D Hunter
kicks: G Dempster(1 conv, 1 pen)
Bay of Plenty ran in 6 tries in a comfortable victory over South
Canterbury, with winger Darryl Menzies picking up a hat-trick.
Another standout for BOP was winger Robbie McDonald, who showed
great strength and class in grabbing his 2 tries.
After having most of the play in the first half, Bay of Plenty
surprisingly only had a 10-3 lead to show for it. A stern winding
up by coach Gordon Tietjens worked wonders for them, and they came
out with some fine play in the backs for the second spell, to
totally overwhelm the visitors.
_____________________________________________________________________
TARANAKI 35 HAWKES BAY 14 Half-time: 17-6
at New Plymouth
Taranaki tries: K Eynon, E Manu, A Whiteman, M Allen, A Callaghan
kicks: J Cameron(2 conv, 2 pen)
Hawkes Bay tries: D Seymour
kicks: J Cunningham(3 pen)
Taranaki, led by the awesome Mark 'Bull' Allen hit Hawkes Bay with
more than they could handle to notch a fine win over them by 5
tries to 1.
The foundation for the victory was strong forward play backed up with
a swarming defence which never let their opponents settle.
All Black assistant coach Ross Cooper was at the match, and commented
that the Taranaki backs worked very well with the wingers and their
fullback, who scored 4 of the tries.
_____________________________________________________________________
NORTHLAND 55 MID CANTERBURY 13 Half-time: 29-6
at Whangarei
Northland tries: D Te Puni(2), I Anderson(2), G Taylor,
T Monaghan, H Taylor, W Johnston
kicks: W Johnston(6 conv, 1 pen)
Mid Canterbury tries: P Treves
kicks: S Middleton(1 conv, 2 pen)
Warren Johnston added another 20 points to his provincial tally,
scoring a try and kicking a penalty and 6 conversions, as his team
took Mid Canterbury apart to retain their unbeaten record.
Despite the result, Northland were at times untidy and unconvincing
in their game, turning the ball over and making handling errors.
However there was never any doubt of the end result. After getting
10 points up in the first 10 minutes, Northland always had poor
Mid Canterbury right where they wanted them, and led 29-6 by the
half-way stage.
Mid Canterbury won some ball in the second half, and managed to
score a try though first five-eighth Paul Treves who sneaked through
a gap.
_____________________________________________________________________
NELSON BAYS 17 WAIRARAPA BUSH 38 Half-time: 10-11
at Nelson
Nelson Bays tries: D Inch, D Gifford
kicks: C Lott(2 conv, 1 pen)
Wairarapa Bush tries: M Childs(2), C Pepperell, P Bresaz
kicks: M Berry(3 conv, 4 pen)
Mistakes in the Nelson Bays backline gave this match to Wairarapa
on a plate yesterday, negating a lot of good work done by their
forwards.
For the Bush, halfback Craig Pepperell was outstanding, with tactical
kicking which kept Bays under pressure. He also scored a late first
half try to give his side a 1 point advantage at the break.
By the end of the third quarter of the match Bush were 20-10 in front
as Nelson Bays made errors to let in Bush first five-eighth Mark
Childs, and centre Peter Brezas for tries. Backing this up was the
evergreen Marty Berry, on target with his kicking to rub salt into
the wounds.
Later on Childs scored again, as Nelson attempted to run the ball.
A late consolation try to lock Dean Gifford was all they could
manage.
_____________________________________________________________________
### DIVISION 3 ####################################################
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________________________________
BULLER 18 WEST COAST 12 Half-time: 5-6
at Westport
Buller tries: P Beverage, S Jack
kicks: T Pratt(1 conv, 2 pen)
West Coast tries:
kicks: P Taylor(2 pen), A Honey(2 pen)
Playing their traditional rivals West Coast, Buller put in a
tremendous forward effort to gain victory by a narrow 6 points.
With both backlines effectively cancelling each other out, the
difference was in the more mobile and committed Buller pack.
Playing with the wind in the first half the initial pressure came
from West Coast although a 6-5 lead at halftime was all they
could manage.
In the second spell Buller dominated. Sam Jack scored just after
the restart, and Tony Pratt converted before slotting two penalties.
Just on the fulltime whistle, the visitors earned themselves a
bonus point when Aaron Honey kicked a penalty.
_____________________________________________________________________
WANGANUI 33 EAST COAST 15 Half-time: 25-7
at Wanganui
Wanganui tries: G Lennox, J Hamlin, J Hutana, D Kereti
kicks: G Lennox(2 conv, 2 pen), J Nahona(1 pen)
East Coast tries: D Kunarara, J Munaka
kicks: W Haerewa(1 conv, 1 pen)
Wanganui shocked opponents East Coast by running in 18 points in
as many minutes after the kickoff, setting the scene for an
emphatic win.
The victory keeps Wanganui in with a mathematical chance of a semi-
finals spot, at the expense of East Coast's hopes.
Wanganui ran rings around Coast early on, moving the ball around
too fast for them to cope. In addition to running back-play, their
forwards were also in fine form at scrum and lineout time, winning
some good ball.
Although not featuring on the scoresheet this time, Fijian import
Asalusi Nagicu once again emerged as one of the stars of the game.
The best efforts came from Wanganui's front-rower Adrian Bull,
lock Mike Collis and No.8 Jamie Hutana. In the backs Kelvin
Chase, Nagicu, and Jerome Nahone shone.
_____________________________________________________________________
NORTH OTAGO 13 MARLBOROUGH 20 Half-time: 13-7
at Oamaru
North Otago tries: M Blair
kicks: C Bleach(1 conv, 2 pen)
Marlborough tries: R Burrows, D Sandrey, A Bailey
kicks: T Forsythe(1 conv, 1 drop)
A late try to halfback Daniel Sandrey sealed the win for Marlborough
against North Otago yesterday.
Committed Marlborough defence kept their opponents to a solitary try
on the day, whilst its forward pack played a big role in 2 of their
3 tries.
Marlborough were 6-0 down after 26 minutes through a pair of Paddy Bleach
penalties, but went ahead 7-6 through a Bailey try and conversion from
Forsythe. North Otago hit back with a converted try to Matt Blair to
turn around 13-7 in the lead.
The second half was quite evenly balanced, however Roger Burrows went
over in the corner and Forsythe hit a drop-goal to make it 15-13.
Daniel Sandrey sealed the win with only 3 minutes left as he went
over in a big forward drive by the Marlborough pack.
_____________________________________________________________________
POVERTY BAY 25 THAMES VALLEY 33 Half-time: 8-7
at Gisborne
Poverty Bay tries: J Wells(2), M Jefferson
kicks: A Rangihuna(2 conv, 2 pen)
Thames Valley tries: W Hodges, B Rigter, R Wilton
kicks: D McCallum(3 conv, 3 pen), W Hodges(1 drop)
Poverty Bay ended their undefeated run at the hands of Thames Valley
yesterday.
Thames Valley winger David McCallum, who netted 15 points, denied
Bay even a bonus point when he landed a long-range penalty just on
full-time.
The first half was rather testy, reflecting the fact that this was
a top of the table match, and the referee was forced to blow no
less than 13 penalties.
A try to second five-eighth Jason Wells gave Bay the lead 8-7 by
half-time, added to a Rangihuna penalty. In reply Valley had a
try to hooker Roger Wilton, converted by McCallum.
Valley then forged ahead to 27-8 in the second half, through the
clever play of their first five-eighth Warren Hodges. Bay fought
back with tries to Wells and Jefferson, and another Rangihuna
penalty, but it wasn't enough.
RESULTS TABLES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_____________________________________________
NPC DIVISION 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
Auckland 6 5 0 1 175 101 21
Counties 6 5 0 1 162 177 20
Canterbury 7 4 1 2 259 197 19
Otago 6 4 0 2 148 122 18
Waikato 6 3 0 3 152 152 14
Wellington 6 3 0 3 129 161 13
North Harbour 6 2 1 3 143 117 12
Southland 7 0 0 7 124 209 5
King Country 6 1 0 5 119 175 4
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NPC DIVISION 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
Northland 6 6 0 0 253 75 24
Taranaki 6 5 0 1 260 125 20
Bay of Plenty 6 4 0 2 210 109 17
Hawkes Bay 6 4 0 2 192 127 16
Manawatu 6 3 0 3 178 130 14
Wairarapa Bush 6 3 0 3 151 176 12
South Canterbury 6 2 0 4 124 194 9
Nelson Bays 7 1 0 6 99 373 5
Mid Canterbury 7 0 0 7 122 270 1
_____________________________________________
NPC DIVISION 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P W D L F A Pts
Thames Valley 6 5 0 1 220 146 20
Poverty Bay 6 5 0 1 196 128 20
Marlborough 7 4 0 3 189 177 16
Horowhenua 6 4 0 2 133 123 16
Wanganui 6 3 0 3 125 93 14
North Otago 6 2 0 4 135 156 10
West Coast 6 2 0 4 91 118 9
Buller 6 2 0 4 93 188 8
East Coast 7 1 0 6 148 201 6
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NEXT WEEK
~~~~~~~~~
Key: RS Ranfurly Shield at stake
= NPC Division I
+ NPC Division II
# NPC Division III
Sat 23rd Canterbury = vs Auckland {RS} Christchurch
King Country = vs North Harbour Taupo
Waikato = vs Wellington Hamilton
Bay of Plenty + vs Nelson Bays Tauranga
Hawkes Bay + vs Manawatu Napier
South Canterbury + vs Northland Timaru
Wairarapa Bush + vs Taranaki Masterton
Buller # vs Poverty Bay Westport
Thames Valley # vs Horowhenua Paeroa
Marlborough # vs West Coast Blenheim
Wanganui # vs North Otago Wanganui
Sun 24th Counties = vs Otago Pukekohe
Well, after getting last weeks Division 1 predictions 75% correct,
I'm on a hiding to nothing this next week, especially since the
outcomes are more difficult to foresee!
No prizes, however, for guessing the Match of the Week. Indeed I
have a feeling that the Canterbury vs Auckland Ranfurly Shield
match could well be the Match of the Season. With Auckland showing
more of their awesome form, and Canterbury proving they are still
developing by winning away at Carisbrook, this match should be
an absolute stunner! Add to that the fact that Canterbury are
really playing for *everything* in this match, the Ranfurly Shield
and the NPC semi-finals. Lose it, and they are left with nothing.
One to relish, and my prediction is that Canterbury will win
by 3, after a match which will drive their fans mad with the
tension... last second drop-goal anyone?
King Country vs North Harbour will be a straight-forward win to
a resurgent Harbour side, I feel.
Waikato vs Wellington is another fascinating match, and could go
either way. I pick Waikato for this one, since Wellington will
not have sufficient penetration to worry them, whereas Waikato
have looked quite dangerous at times this season.
On the Sunday, I pick Counties to beat Otago, since they will be
wanting to bounce back from the mauling by the Aucks, and will
also have big Jonah Lomu back.
Cheers,
Paul.
--
____________________________________________________________________________
Paul Waite doc@docdevl.actrix.gen.nz
Wellington, New Zealand +64-4-233-1764
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