Bay of Plenty favourites, Wellington into semi-finals at National U19s

Above: Kienan Higgins makes a break for it for Wellington against Taranaki on Sunday. PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.facebook.com/NationalUnder19s/ 

The top four has been resolved at the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Under-19 tournament in Taupo. Bay of Plenty are the favourites to win the Graham Mourie Premiership after crushing Hawke’s Bay by a record score of 90-0. Two weeks earlier Bay of Plenty thrashed Taranaki 94-0 in the seeding rounds and are so far unbeaten in 2018.

Bay of Plenty will tackle North Harbour in the first semi-final after they edged Tasman 28-25. North Harbour have shown an ability to win close contests, pipping Auckland 24-20 in qualifying a fortnight ago.

Wellington will return to the Premiership top four for the first time since 2016 after a commanding 62-8 win against Taranaki. Taranaki occasionally challenged Wellington with some strong ball carrying forwards and in the set-piece.

However, Wellington showed an ability to strike from anywhere and were especially effective on counter attacking turnovers.

First-Five Callum Harkin had an assured game while centre Albert Polu was damaging at centre and Taine Plumtree continued his strong form at lock, while Tane Te Aho and Kyle Preston also played well. Wellington scored five tries in the first-half and four in the second.

Wellington will play Canterbury in the semi-finals after the former eliminated defending champions Auckland. Canterbury’s accuracy and structure proved overwhelming for a poor Auckland outfit.

Wellington has beaten Canterbury twice in the history of the tournament. In 2014, Wellington won the inaugural final 32-19 and in 2016 the third placed playoff 31-24 with Alex Fidow scoring a last play try.

Graham Mourie Cup Results

Wellington: 62 (Callum Harkin 2, Taine Plumtree 2, Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Caleb Delany, Misilifi Faimalo, Albert Polu, Reuben Vaá tries; Harkin 7 con, pen)Taranaki: 8 (Parris Faapulou try; Mason Porteus pen)
 
Canterbury 37 (Nick Frost 2, Connor Garden-Bachop, Burns Mills, Fergus Burke tries; Burke 3 con, 2 pen) Auckland: 8 (Oliver Shepherd try; Thomas Strachan pen)
 
Bay of Plenty 90 (Bartje Wierenga 4, Leroy Carter 2, Lalomilo Lalomilo 2, Coby Milne, Emoni Narawa, Jonas Pomare, Jayjay Suemai, Apitone Toia, Etonia Waqa tries; Kaleb Trask 6 con, Coby Milne 4 con) Hawke’s Bay: 0
 
North Harbour 28 (Brad McNaughten 2, Thomas Barham; Jack Heighton 3 pen, 2 con) Tasman 25 (Caleb Coventry, Quinn Harrison Jones, Sam Moli, Nigel Satherly tries; Josh McPherson con, pen)
 
Wednesday Draw
 
10:45pm: Hawke’s Bay v Tasman – Loser Match 1
12:30pm: Auckland v Taranaki – Loser Match 2
2:15pm: Bay of Plenty v North Harbour – Semi-Final 1
4:00pm: Wellington v Canterbury – Semi Final 2

Michael Jones Championship

 Counties Manukau are a chance to repeat success for a fourth time after battling past Manawatu 27-22. Manawatu actually outscored Counties four tries to three, with Trevahn Ta’ufo’ou collecting a brace, but the accurate kicking of Tala Potifara was telling – Potifara on target with three conversions and two penalties.
 
The Junior Steelers will play Otago in the semi-final after the southerners accounted for Auckland Development 29-22. The winners tries were scored by Sam Dickson, Sean Jansen
Delaney McKenzie and Abraham Pole.
 
Despite two tries by Nikau Graham, Northland couldn’t deny Southland a 29-22 victory in a similarly engaging encounter. Henry Earland, Kalani Elder, Ben Paulin and Taniora Raniera crossed the strip for Southland.
 
Waikato were the biggest winners in the Championship trouncing Heartland 67-5. Sam Cooper, Charles Alaimalo and Jack McConnell each bagged a brace in a resounding triumph.
 
Wednesday Draw
 
10:45am: Auckland Development v Manawatu – Loser Match 1
12:30pm: Heartland v Northland – Loser Match 2
2:15pm: Otago v Counties – Semi-Final 1
4:00pm: Waikato v Southland – Semi-Final 2