Wellington, Bay of Plenty books NPC fight with semi-final wins

Wellington and Bay of Plenty had to recover from the break at half-time to secure a place in next weekend’s NPC finals.

Top of the table Lions will host the title match after beating Waikato 29-24 in the capital and prop Mason Tupaea scored a late try to ensure the visitors set up a crucial final five minutes.

Wellington midfielder Kyle Preston bagged a brace – one in each half – but the Mulos took advantage just before half-time when second five Riley Higgins was yellow carded for offside on his own goal line with Waikato players off his line. were not noted.

A scoring penalty try gave them a 17-15 lead, but two unanswered converted tries from Preston and hooker Penieli Poasa gave Wellington the winning lead to hold off Waikato’s late rally.

“Talk about Test matches,” muses Wellington captain Du’Plessis Kirifi. “It’s not often you see this level, this physicality, this intensity in provincial rugby.

“Apart from the results, what a great pleasure it is to play in a match like this against a team like Waikato.

“Both teams will be lucky, both teams will get calls from the referee. We just felt like we put ourselves in a couple of tough positions, so in the second half we focused on just scoring those couple.” moments.

“We created some pressure and got points.”

Bay of Plenty had previously trailed Canterbury 13-8 at half-time but held their opponents scoreless for much of the final 40 minutes, scoring 24 points to escape 32-20 in the first semi-final in Tauranga.

Second five Willisi Halaholo, forward Leroy Carter and free forward Semisi Paea all crossed for the Steamers after the break, while first five Caleb Trask turned around his wayward kicking form in the first half to convert all three of his tries and convert a penalty.

The Bay of Plenty needed a last-ditch effort to get past Hawke’s Bay in the quarter-finals, but time constraints made that contest impossible.

“It’s a huge relief,” Bay captain Kurt Eklund said. “The last few weeks have been pretty close but these guys want it so bad and to put in a performance like that for a good Canterbury team was amazing.

“At halftime we knew we had it in us. We just hung in there for the first half, but we knew our mechanics a little bit and were able to hold on.”

Wellington 29 (Preston 2, Lauaki, Poaza try; Harquin penalty and 3 conversions) Waikato 24 (Tries by Mathis and M. Tupea; penalty; Cruden penalty and 2 conversions)

Bay of Plenty 32 (Johnston, Halaholo, Carter and Paea tries; Trask 2 penalties and 3 conversions) Canterbury 20 (Tries by McAllister and Rowa; converted by Hutchinson and 2 penalties, converted by Fihaki)