ITM Cup 2011: Round 2 fixtures and results - Rugby News
The second round of the ongoing ITM Cup 2011 started off with a thrilling contest between Hawkes Bay and Southland on July 19. Hawkes Bay ran away with a much needed victory as they had lost their early match of the event to Manawatu on July 16, by a reasonable
margin of 32-23. Hakes Bay displayed some wonderful rugby against Southlanders as Andrew Horrell shined for his team in Napier. He scored 24 individual points with the help of five penalty shots, two conversions and a brilliant try. The Southlanders provided
the Hawkes too many chances of scoring in the match and Hawkes players capitalized on most of them.
In the next clash of the ITM Cup 2011, Counties Manukau and Manawatu saw out a nerve wrecking contest and in the end Manukau managed to collect a hard fought victory of 32-25 against the Manawatu side. The lead kept on changing sides on and kept the match
interesting all the way through.
The second match of the day on July 16 was played between Auckland and Otago which proved to be an action replay of the Counties Manukau and Manawatu’s contest. The Otago team grabbed victory by 32-25 over Auckland, in Eden Park. This was one of the toughest
clashes of the current ITM Cup as the sides seemed at their best in the match. Glenn Dickson was the man who guided his Otago squad to the second consecutive victory in the championship. Meanwhile, Joe Rokocoko played exceptionally well for Auckland and contributed
with a couple of tries to their total.
The only match of July 21 was seen between Waikato and Taranaki in Hamilton. The Taranaki’s carried the day with the help of Andre Taylor who scored 15 points for his team. Taranaki’s scored four tries in the match and Waikato clinched the first victory
of the event by 30-23. The Waikato’s, who started off their ITM Cup journey with an impressive win over the Southland, looked off colour in the match. Waikato dominated the game in the beginning but lost the momentum after the break and stumbled badly.
Four matches were played on July 23 which was the most number of clashes held in one day so far in the championship. Southlanders battled past the Canterbury after a nail biting contest by a slight margin of 22-19 with James Wilson helping his side with
17 individual points.
Bay of Plenty crushed North Harbour with a monstrous difference of 38-1 last Saturday. They outclassed the Harbour side with excellent team work as Lelia Masaga and Noakes were the men to watch out for with their splendid performance in the match. Wellington
and Manawatu also won their matches on the same day.
The last match of the second round of ITM Cup was played between Tasman and Counties Manukau. Counties Manukau concluded the round with a bonus point victory over Tasman. The third round of the championship will be started off on July 26 as Bay of Plenty
take on Waikato.
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