What Went Down in Round One of the ITM Cup?
Northland 26 Taranaki 19
The two teams registered one another early on as they began to get a feel for ITM Cup rugby once again. The boots did the talking straight away as Lachie Munro and Willie Ripia scored penalties for either side.
The first try of the day came form Dean Budd, who snatched an errant pass, running it back to give Northland the 10-6 lead.
Munro had a brilliant day as he tallied two more tries, and a penalty late on the give Northland the win.
Canterbury 23 Hawke’s Bay 23
Daniel Kirkpatrick was the hero of the first half for the Magpies as he registered three penalties to bring the lead to 7-6 early on. Shortly after, he went down with a head injury, but his replacement, Andrew Horrell, did not miss a beat, hitting a penalty of his own. The Magpies followed with a try from Hikawera Elliot and took a 17-13 lead into half.
The second half opened quickly, with a Canterbury score from winger Tu Umaga-Marshall, however, it was cancelled out by another Horrell penalty.
All tied up, Colin Slade converted a penalty for Canterbury with two minutes remaining. Nevertheless, the Magpies stormed down the field, and Horrell completed his fine day, tying it up in extra time.
Southland 37 Manawatu 23
Southland took a 19-9 lead into half, after they were able to score three unanswered tries, capped off by a score from Jamie Mackintosh.
After the break, Manawatu looked as though they would get back in it with a pair of tries, one from Aaron Smith.
However, Southland countered, and James Wilson managed to keep the team on the board with his boot, to hold off Manawatu for the win.
Counties Manukau 29 Otago 13
Counties opened up the scoring and kept on cruising from there, crossing the line for two tries early, the first coming from Ahsee Tuala, who managed two on the day.
Counties controlled the first half, taking a 22-6 lead into the break.
After half, and a man down, Counties played more conservatively, but not without Tuala scoring a try with a 90 metre run from the other end of the pitch.
Waikato 13 Bay of Plenty 10
Dan Waenga opened the scoring for the match with a penalty for Bay of Plenty in the third minute. However, Bay could not muster anymore scoring until late in the second half.
That left the rest of the first half to Waikato, as scrum-half Brendon Leonard tallied a try in the 36th minute, and Trent Renata scored a penalty to give Waikato a 10-3 lead.
There was no scoring until Dwayne Sweeney kicked a penalty in the 65th minute to extend the lead for Waikato.
A late try from Tanerau Latimer proved to not be enough as the home team squeaked their way to victory.
Auckland 36 North Harbour 14
In the first 30 minutes, North Harbour looked to be in top form as they held a 14-0 lead. Sadly for Harbour, that would be all they could muster.
Auckland burst back in the second half, getting two tries from Daniel Baird to take the win.
Wellington 20 Tasman 11
The game opened up with two Wellington tries from Dane Coles and Jeremy Thrush. Tasman came back with a Robbie Malneek try and two penalties from Steve Alfield, limiting Wellingtons lead to 15-8 at the half.
The game was marred by rain and scoring was difficult to come by, so when Julian Savea notched a try in the second half it was all but over, as Tasman could only watch the clock wind down, on a Wellington win.
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