Otago claim Shield, Auckland done again
- Dave Worsley
- Sep 20
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 22
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Otago have taken the Ranfurly Shield from Canterbury in an NPC thriller in Christchurch, with a 38-36 victory.
The southern side took the Shield from their their norhtern neighbours after being tailing Canterbury until 13 minutes from fulltime, when they took a two-point lead via a converted try.
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They then held out their northern rivals in an intense final 20 minutes as Otago forced it's way back into the game and put pressure on the Cantabs.
Otago's openside flanker Lucas Casey scored a brilliant try in the second half to put his side within reach of the lead, He had earlier dotted odwn in the first half..
Jae Broomfield also crossed as did hooker Laim Coltman for Otago unanswerd by the home team. That's despite lock Will Tucker being carded in the 60th minute.
It was the first loss of the season in NPC for Canterbury. The still sit on top of the tabel with 35 points. Otago are four behind in second with Taranaki third on 27.
In Pukekohe, Counties-Manukau deallt to Auckland 49-28 with returning All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard getting just over half an hour of action off the bench
The last time Roigargard was on the field was when the All Blacks beat France in Wellington on July 12,
He took the field as a replacement for impressive No 9 Cohen Brady-Leathem in the 48th minute, Counties were ahead 35-21.
All Blacks backs Rieko Ioane and Caleb Clarke were also on show for Auckland, but their chances to attack were often stymied because of their team's inability to gather momentum.
Hoskins Sotutu and Daton Papali'i in the loose forwards were both strong for Counties at home as they helped starve Auckland of ball.and scored seven treis to four overall.
Meanwhile Wellington demolished Southland 75-19 in Porirua, having led 42-5 at halftime, to move into eighth on the live ladder. Callum Harkin scored a hat-trick for the hosts.
And Waikato waitied until golden point extra time to beat Tasman 29-24 at Lansdowne Park in Blenheim thanks to wing Josh Moorby scoring in the 86th minute of the game.
