The Tasman Mako were left heart-broken at Christchurch’s Apollo Projects Stadium this afternoon after conceding an overtime try to lose a pulsating Ranfurly Shield match to Canterbury 31-25.
Tasman were in the box seat for much of the second half and held a one-point lead until the 82nd minute when a late, late try shattered their hopes of returning the prized Log of Wood to the country’s newest union in just their sixth challenge.
The first half was a mixture of bizarre rugby, flowing action and bounce back plays.
Tasman opened the scoring in just the third minute with the best try of the match. Some superb offloading from Cooper Roberts, Macca Springer, Leicester Fainga’anuku and David Havili allowed halfback Mitchell Drummond a short sprint to the line. Willie Havili’s conversion gave the challengers an early 7-0 advantage.
Canterbury’s reply was in the bizarre category. After Willie Havili slipped on the counterattack, conceding a penalty, the home side gained field position. A raking kick to the corner struck the flag and rebounded back into play, former Mako halfback Louie Chapman diving on the ball as David Havili looked on, seemingly oblivious to the danger. James White’s sideline conversion levelled the scores.
David Havili quickly made amends though, a nice set move freeing Springer on the left hand side. His kick ahead looked set to run dead in goal but, as Canterbury centre Dallas McLeod watched on, Havili dived on it to get his own back.
For the 10 minutes the Mako dominated, going close with handy lineouts and attacking ploys before settling for a penalty from Willie Havili to forge a handy 15-7 lead.
But, as all Canterbury sides seem to do, the Red and Blacks finished the half strongly.
Firstly, Chapman scored after Canterbury found a big hole in the Tasman defensive line, White’s conversion closing the gap to 15-14, then Chay Fihaki dotted down, beating David Havili in the air after a clever cross kick from the enterprising Chapman, who was having a storming game against his former team mates.
Although White missed the conversion, Canterbury went to the sheds with a 19-15 advantage.
For most of the second half it was all Tasman, Fainga’anuku a veritable wrecking ball in midfield and the Mako always a threat in the wide channels.
Fifteen minutes in Tasman reclaimed the lead, a clever kick and chase from Kyren Taumoefolau, after a sideline burst by hooker Tomasi Maka, resulting in a fingertip touchdown from the Mako number 14.
Five minutes later Maka was in, a break by Fainga’anuku and a pinpoint long pass allowing the hooker a straight run to the corner.
With Havili missing both conversions the Mako sat on a 25-19 lead with 20 to play.
As the challengers upped their defensive effort, Canterbury began to string long periods of possession together, resulting in a 68thminute try to lock Sam Darry as the Tasman defensive line became fatigued.
As the clock wound down with Tasman holding a tenuous one-point lead, the tension ramped up.
Ditching the attacking mindset which had served them so well, the Mako backed their defence and it took until the 82nd minute for their solid red and blue line to break, replacement hooker George Bell crashing over to send the home fans wild and keep the precious Log of Wood in Christchurch.
However, even the parochial locals would be quick to admit that this was a superb challenge from their northern neighbours, who brought passion and skill to a memorable encounter.
