Rugby: Bay of Plenty knocks down Hawke’s Bay in Miter Cup 10

Hawke’s Bay dominated possession and territory, took 13 more penalties and had 54 more carries, but it was Bay of Plenty that came out with a 22-17 victory in their ‘Battle of the Bays’ Miter Cup 10 clash in Tauranga. .

It was a major win for the Bay of Plenty in their quest not only to remain in the Premiership in 2021, but also to put them just around the corner. The victory subsequently sees Canterbury fall into the relegation zone with two games to play. Canterbury’s last two games are against the top two teams in the competition: Auckland and Tasman.

Bay of Plenty struggled early on as they found themselves behind in three minutes when Hawke’s Bay winger Lolagi Visinia scored the game’s first try.

While the hosts responded through Kaleb Trask moments later, Hawke’s Bay was getting the best of the early exchanges. Bay of Plenty soon became a light man when prop Jordan Lay was thrown out on a cynical penalty, and Hawke’s Bay made them pay.

Rushing on attempts by Jonah Lowe and Ash Dixon, who previously had an impressive solo effort ruled out, Hawke’s Bay took a 17-8 lead. They had their chances to extend that further, but they coughed up possession in vital moments as the Bay of Plenty defense put them to work before an interception attempt on Emoni Narawa closed the gap to two points at halftime.

There was little in the way of scoring in the second half, with handling errors plaguing both sides. The only score came from Kaleb Trask, who caught his second attempt of the day before the Bay of Plenty defended his line under late attack, even as it dropped to 14, to hope for a pivotal victory.

Elsewhere, Manawatū scored his first win of the season with a 24-12 win over Southland, while in the final game of the round, Counties Manukau sent off Kieran Read in style, with the inspiring former All Blacks captain earning a loss in the 88th minute to seal a 31-27 victory over Taranaki in their final match before returning to Japan.

“Excited to get a win, it’s my first win of the year, I was telling the guys we needed to get one this week,” Read said.

“It’s been a lot of fun. I really enjoyed being with these guys, and something is certainly brewing.

“We’ve been to every game this year, it probably comes down to the last minutes and it could have gone the way it has done all season, when they got in front. But we showed character and that really goes to the confidence of the guys.” .

Here’s how the Battle of the Bays unfolded: