Rugby: Canterbury escapes relegation as semifinals confirmed on thrilling final day of Miter 10 Cup

For the third time in the past 13 years, Canterbury will not make the final of the National Provincial Competition.

However, they have done enough to avoid relegation by beating Auckland 34-33 in Christchurch.

Going into the game in the unknown position of being at the bottom of the ladder, Canterbury came under pressure early on as Auckland ran on two quick attempts to lead 12-0 in the first 10 minutes.

Canterbury struggled to mount much of an attack during the first 40, even after Auckland was reduced to 14 men by Presley Tufuga’s trash.

Trailing 19-5 at halftime, the hosts had a lot of work to do if they were to stay in the Premiership division, and they opened the second half in the best way possible.

By scoring two attempts in the 10 minutes after the restart, Canterbury had returned the game to a level position, before taking his first lead when Luke Romano fell over the line from close range.

When prop Oli Jager did the same with 14 minutes to go, the result looked quite stable as Canterbury had established a 31-19 lead.

But Auckland was not done yet, with attempts by Tufuga and Salesi Rayasi in quick succession to put them back in the lead by one point in the final 10 minutes.

In the end it all came down to the boot of young Canterbury winger Chay Fihaki, who scored a long-range penalty goal to see his team get back to the lead and from there they were able to close it out.

The result sees North Harbor finish at the bottom of the Premiership after they were beaten in close competition by the Bay of Plenty.

Both teams were in position to qualify for the playoffs and be relegated at the end of the day’s game, and as Harbor battled for an early lead, Bay of Plenty returned home with the stronger of the two sides to confirm their spot. in the playoffs alongside Auckland and Tasman, and Waikato, who finished with the same number of points as Wellington and Canterbury, but won a place in the semifinals due to winning the three-way tiebreaker.

While North Harbor ends the year at the foot of the Premiership, it may not matter in the long run with big changes being proposed for the competition.

New Zealand Rugby is reportedly seeking renewed competition that would see teams divided into North and South groups, as opposed to the Premiership and Championship divisions.

In the Championship, Taranaki gave up a substantial lead against Hawke’s Bay, losing 34-33 at Inglewood. Both teams had already secured their spots in the Championship playoffs, but the result means they will meet next weekend in the semifinals, with Hawke’s Bay topping the table and Taranaki finishing fourth.

Premier League Semifinals:

Auckland v Waikato
Tasman v Bay of Plenty

Championship semi-finals:

Hawke’s bay v taranaki
Otago v Northland

Here’s how the Canterbury v Auckland clash unfolded: