Three-time defending champion Canterbury had ominous form in the Farah Palmer Cup

Three-time defending champion Canterbury are rolling toward a sinister touch in the Farah Palmer Cup.

A week after their 85-10 demolition of the Otago Spirit, the Reds and Blacks then swept the Hawke’s Bay Tui 72-15 at Napier on Saturday night, to jump to the top of the South group rankings.

For the second week in a row, captain Alana Bremner and winger Martha Lolohea scored two attempts each, this time the duo was also joined by center Grace Brooker, as the visitors to McLean Park quickly took over after conceding early.

Hawke’s Bay, which remains at the bottom of the South group, was surprised to open the scoring in just the fifth minute, when wide wing Niamh Jefferson approached. But from then on there was one-way traffic in the contest of 12 attempts against three.

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Captain Bremner struck back just a couple of minutes later, the blind side flank slamming down the left touchline. And it was that corner that was going to need a point hammer.

Since the restart, Canterbury sent the ball wide and Lolohea went 60 meters to double her score in the blink of an eye, and two more times before the quarter mark they were there again, when Brooker burned 30 meters around the defense. , before Bremner had his second thanks to a great blow and discharge from Lolohea.

The hosts counterattacked in the 26th minute with a brilliant attempt by fullback Cortez Te Pou, who kicked the ball 40 yards, dug his ears back and dived into the right corner, but it was to signal a false counter.

Even though the possession stats are consistent and Canterbury is on the wrong side of a 14-8 penalty count, the visitors simply had too much class in the park and easily made their way through the Hawke’s Bay defense to through simple turns and straight running.

With a blast in midfield, No. 8 Lucy Anderson made a 50-meter charge, to, you guessed it, the same left corner.

From the restart they went up the middle, then the impressive second five Grace Steinmetz broke and fought back, finding Kendra Cocksedge on the inside to slide under the posts.

And after five missed conversions, the influential Black Ferns running back was finally able to place one from the front.

Another good run from Brooker had fullback Isabella Waterman, and the game ended at halftime, 37-10.

There were five more attempts on the second spell, with Brooker selflessly discharging Lolohea, fiancee of Canterbury male winger Manasa Mataele, to get her second 10 minutes.

Steinmetz was rewarded when he made his way close to the line, and Cocksedge’s conversion brought the half century.

At the hour mark, Brooker landed a double landing on the line, and after being 3/9 off the tee, Cocksedge opted to kick the conversion, notably nailing it from the left.

Hawke’s Bay finally scored again in the 68th minute via a barge from mighty replacement prop Moomooga Palu, before Steinmetz set up Sam Curtis to score, then Catriona Greenslade completed the scoring in the final minute.

Canterbury’s victory sees them jump to a three-point lead ahead of Wellington at the top of the south pool, after Pride led 31-28 by Manawatū in the capital on Friday night.

The Cyclones are within two points of Wellington, as are Otago Spirit, who rebounded from their 85-10 beating of Canterbury last weekend by beating Tasman Mako 67-24 at Trafalgar Park in Nelson on Saturday.

Meanwhile, in North group action on Saturday, with Waikato on a bye week, the Auckland Storm jumped to the top of the table with a 72-0 demolition of the North Harbor Hibiscus at the North Harbor Stadium Outer Oval.

And at Blake Park on Mt Maunganui, the Bay of Plenty Volcanix hit the Taranaki Whio 73-17 to tie them on 10 points with the two-county Manukau Heat, which host the Northland Kauri tabletop in Pukekohe on Sunday.

Take a look

Farah Palmer Cup, week 4

Manawatū 31 (Janna Michal-Vaughan 2, Crystal Mayes, Carys Dallinger tries; Selica Winiata scam, 3 pens) Wellington 28 (Thamsyn Newton, Ayesha Leti-I’iga, Joanah Ngan-Woo, penalty test; Newton 3 with). HT: 23-14.

Otago 67 Tasman 24

Auckland 72 North port 0

Bay of Plenty 73 Taranaki 17

Canterbury 72 (Alana Bremner 2, Martha Lolohea 2, Grace Brooker 2, Lucy Anderson, Kendra Cocksedge, Isabella Waterman, Grace Steinmetz, Sam Curtis, Catriona Greenslade tries; Kendra Cocksedge 4 with, Isabella Waterman 2 with) Hawke’s Bay 15 (Niamh Jefferson, Cortez Te Pou, Moomooga Palu tries). HT: 37-10.

Sunday: Manukau v Northland Counties, Pukekohe, 2.05pm