Canterbury and Waikato win their matches during the ninth round of ITM Cup – Rugby news
Two matches were played on August 14 to conclude the ninth round of ongoing inter-provincial championship of New Zealand.
Canterbury took on Northland whereas Waikato faced Otago respectively in Christchurch and Hamilton. Canterbury crushed Northland by a monstrous total of 28-13 and Waikato battled past the Otago side by 25-10. Both the side had done well to secure a bonus
point along with the victory on Sunday.
The victory means a lot the Canterbury side which had lost its previous match of the event to Waikato. Canterbury perceived massive defeat by Waikato in its previous outgoing on August 10 but managed the things well to bounce back into the tournament with
a stunning performance.
Northland had a good start in the match as they dominated over the Canterbury side with an early surge. Northland enjoyed a 13-0 lead over Canterbury at a certain point in the first half but could not stick with the same performance later in the game. Canterbury
side had displayed an excellent display of teamwork to decrease the Northlanders lead to 13-10 at interval.
The Canterbury kept on with their tremendous effort during the second part of the game as well and restricted Northland to their first half score. Meanwhile, they kept on injecting slowly but steadily to their own total and in the end managed to bag a much
needed victory by 28-13. Tyler Bleyendaal, Tom Taylor and Johnny McNicholl were the major contributors for their side.
The victory has put Canterbury on fourth position at the point’s tables with the help of a bonus point in the match. The Canterbury side has now secured four victories after playing seven matches.
During the second match of the day, Waikato thumped Otago by 25-10 and sealed a top spot on the point’s tables. Waikato is leading on the point’s tables with five victories after 7 encounters in the current tournament.
They scored four tries to grab a bonus point in the match. Speight, Leonard, O'Donnell and Cummings-Toone scored one each tries for their team and Declan O'Donnell kicked one conversion and a penalty shot in the goal posts of Otago.
The Otago team remained simply quiet during the second half of the match and had not a single point to their total of 10-15 they scored during first half. The losing sides of August 14, Otago and Northland are currently placed on third and fourth place among
the Pool B sides.
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