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Hawke's Bay take a thriller
Hawke's Bay claimed the spoils of an electric Air New Zealand Cup match on Saturday, beating Northland 43-31 in a belting match that featured eleven tries in all.
Precision ball-handling, relentless support play and a willingness to run the ball were all to the fore in perfect conditions in Napier.
McLean Park's seats were barely warm from the spectators before both sides had opened ther accounts.
Hawke's Bay fly-half Matt Berquist punted over a clever cross-kick which bounced kindly for wing Jason Kupa to score. Berquist made it 7-0.
Northland struck back immediately, with fly-half Derek Carpenter breaking and linking with wing Rene Ranger to set full-back Jared Payne away under the posts. Payne converted his own try, 7-7.
The punches and counter-punches continued. Hawke's Bay full-back Israel Dagg finished off a simple backs handling move to give his team the lead, then a long lobbed pass from Northland lock Marty Vale had Fetu'u Vainkolo in for a try. Neither was converted, 12-12
Two minutes later it was Bay number eight George Naoupu who crossed after Dagg ran back a Vainikolo clearing kick and linked with centre Jason Shoemark. Berquist converted.
Northland captain Justin Collins appeared from a maul in the Bay 22m area just before the break, and after breaking a tackle he passed to lock Dan Goodwin who scored. Payne added the conversion, and the only difference between the teams was a Berquist penalty that made the score 22-19 at the break.
The home side struck a telling blow after a patchy start to the second half, with Jason Shoemark rounding off a fine move and Berquist making it 29-19 from the touchline with the conversion.
That try was followed up by one from substitute Mark Jackman in the corner, as Hawke's Bay's pack began to get the upper hand.
Northland struck back when a clearing kick from the restart by scrum-half Danny Lee was charged down by Vainikolo. Swarming Northland support produced quick ball and it was Payne who charged through in the 63rd minute for his second try.
Then into the last 10 minutes, Lowe had his reward for good work all night when blasting across on the blindside from a maul for the try that clinched the match while the restart produced a return try for Northland wing Ranger who gathered his own kick ahead, as it bounced back off the goalpost and he went over under the posts.
The scorers:
For Hawke's Bay:
Tries: Kupa, Dagg, Naoupu , Shoemark, Jackman, Lowe
Cons: Berquist 5
Pen: Berquist
For Northland:
Tries: Payne 2, Vainikolo, Goodwin, Ranger
Cons: Payne 3
Hawke's Bay: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Jason Kupa, 13 Jason Shoemark, 12 Daniel Waenga, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Matt Berquist, 9 Danny Lee (c), 8 George Naoupu, 7 Karl Lowe, 6 Michael Johnson, 5 Bryn Evans, 4 Matt Egan, 3 Tom Simpson, 2 Hikawera Elliot, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Josh Keys, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Hugh Reed, 20 Chris Eaton, 21 Sam Giddens, 22 Mark Jackman.
Northland: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Rene Ranger, 13 Aiden Dewes, 12 Leo Taliu, 11 Fetu Vainikolo, 10 David Holwell, 9 James Rodley, 8 Blair Urlich, 7 John Cocker, 6 Justin Collins (c), 5 Marty Veale, 4 Daniel Goodwin, 3 Bronson Murray, 2 Francis Smith, 1 Tony Coughlan.
Replacements: 16 Tyler Ashworth, 17 Justin Davies, 18 Roy Griffin, 19 Joel McKenty, 20 Kaino Kaino, 21 Derek Carpenter, 22 Damian Fakafanua.
Referee: Vinny Munro
TMO: Chris Pollock
