Three teams tie at top in New Zealand
Canterbury and Counties Manukau took full advantage of Auckland’s week off to pull level with the champions at the top of the inter-provincial Farah Palmer Cup.
Published by John Birch, August 27th, 2016
3 minute read
Photo: Lynn McConnell/Getty Images/Allblacks.com
Just past hallway in the seven-match pool series, three teams are tied at the top in the Farah Palmer Cup, while three more are in a scrap for the fourth semi-final spot.
Canterbury threw down the gauntlet when they travelled to the North Harbour – for the first time ever - and claimed a 50-7 win over the home team. Kendra Cocksedge bettered last week’s hat-trick with four tries this week, plus five conversions for a personal haul of 30 points that equalled her Canterbury record set in 2013 against Taranaki. Olivia McGoverne added two more and Tara Horsnell added the seventh. North Harbour had little answer to Canterbury’s onslught
Joining them at the top is Counties Manukau who also travelled, to Dunedin, to claim a 58-10 win over Otago, scoring 10 tries in the game. Seven players touched down, with Krystal Murray standing out with a hat-trick and Aroha Savage adding two more. It was a tough days for the kickers, with seven of the game’s 11 conversion attempts missed, otherwise Counties’ score could have been well into the sixties or beyond.
Wellington, Waikato and Manuwatu are the three teams competing for the fourth spot, and two of them came together in Palmerston North in a predictably tight game, Manawatu battling back from 0-15 down to within five points of Wellington, but the visitors held on to win 20-25. Vaine Marsters being the hero of the game with two tries, allowing Wellington to jump over Manuwatu into fourth place.
However, Waikato now split the two after a 32-3 five-try win over Bay of Plenty, Shakira Baker being the game’s leading scorer with two tries.
Next weekend Auckland travel to Rugby Park in Christchurch to meet Canterbury (they meet Counties in week 7), while Waikato have a near knockout fixture with Manuwatu.
Results
Waikato 32 (Shakira Baker 2, Michelle Montague, Stacey Waaka, Honey Hireme tries; Tenika Willison 2 con, pen) Bay of Plenty 3 (Billie Raynes pen).
North Harbour 7 (Pia Tapsell try; Chelsea Alley con) Canterbury 50 (Kendra Cocksedge 4 tries, Tara Horsnell, Olivia McGoverne 2, Phillipa Love tries; Cocksedge 5 con). HT: 19-0
Otago 10 (Greer Muir try; Megan Manson con, pen) Counties Manukau 58 (Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate, Aroha Savage 2, Krystal Murray 3, Arihana Marino, Langi Veanu, Renee Wickliffe, Ariana Hira-Herangi tries; Hazel Tubic 4 con). HT: 31-10
Manawatu 20 (Lauren Balsillie, Sam McIntosh, Selica Winiata tries; Krysten Duffill con, pen) Wellington 25 (Joanah Ngan-Woo, Vaine Marsters 2, Ayesha Leti-liga tries; Lizzie Goulden con, pen).
2016 FARAH PALMER CUP
Team
P
W
D
L
F
A
BP1
BP2
Pts
Canterbury
3
3
0
0
150
31
3
0
15
Counties Man
3
3
0
0
129
13
3
0
15
Auckland
3
3
0
0
126
52
3
0
15
Wellington
3
2
0
1
77
71
1
1
10
Waikato
4
2
0
2
71
69
1
0
9
Manawatu
3
1
0
2
77
60
2
2
8
North Harbour
4
1
0
3
53
125
1
0
5
Otago
3
0
0
3
39
159
1
0
1
Bay of Plenty
4
0
0
4
14
156
0
0
0