Counties Manukau hold off Hawke's Bay to retain Ranfurly Shield without a second-half point

Counties Manukau retained the Ranfurly Shield with a gritty 12-7 win over Hawke’s Bay at Navigation Holme Stadium on the final weekend of the NPC regular season, surviving a tense second half in which they failed to add a single point to their tally.

The Steelers had claimed the Log ‘o Wood just a week earlier, upsetting Northland 22-19 in a drought-breaking Shield challenge led by captain Jimmy Tupou. A win in round 10 would lock up the trophy for the off-season, and Counties delivered — just about.

Adam Brash crossed for the opener in the 10th minute, though first five-eighth AJ Alatimu missed the conversion. Alatimu also missed a subsequent penalty attempt, leaving the score at 5-0 before Melani Matavao crossed in the 26th minute, with the conversion this time successful. Counties went into half-time 12-0 ahead, but that was the last time they troubled the scoreboard.

Hawke’s Bay had entered the match in contrasting form. The Magpies had started the NPC season with a perfect 6-0 record, putting up high scores against Wellington, Tasman, Auckland and Manawatu, but three consecutive defeats had left them desperate to finish strongly before the playoffs.

One-Test Wallaby Darby Lancaster gave the visitors hope around the 60-minute mark, with Harry Godfrey converting to make it 12-7. Hawke’s Bay pressed hard in the final quarter, and when they were awarded a penalty late on, Godfrey kicked for the corner. The Magpies set up a lineout roughly 10 metres from the Counties line, but the home side produced what Tupou later called a game-defining defensive play to repel the threat and seal the result.

“I don’t think we could’ve won that game any better way,” Tupou said after the final whistle. “We talked the last couple of weeks about just making our people proud. Some of those defensive sets, I’m so proud of.”

Despite the Shield retention, Counties finished the regular season with four wins from their last six matches — not enough to qualify for the playoffs. Hawke’s Bay, meanwhile, ended the round robin at 6-4 and will contest the post-season finals.