The Farah Palmer Cup's Championship final is set, while two of four semifinalists in the Premiership are locked in.
The Manawatu Cyclones and Otago Spirit will meet in Palmerston North on Sunday (kick-off 4.35pm) with promotion to the Premiership at stake, while Counties Manukau and Waikato have secured their places in the Premiership last four.
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Waikato confirmed their place with an entertaining and dominant 57-29 victory over previously unbeaten Counties Manukau to claim the JJ Stewart Memorial Trophy in Pukekohe on Sunday.
No 8 Chyna Hohepa scored two tries, among eight different tryscorers for Waikato, while Chelsea Semple booted six conversions, along with a try for 17 points, in the big win that vaulted the Waikato Wahine into second.
Waikato blew the game open with two converted tries six minutes after halftime. Black Ferns contracted blindside Mia Anderson swerved past two defenders and strode 20 meters and then she made a similarly purposeful burst and offloaded to Grace Houpapa-Barrett.
Suddenly Waikato were ahead 40-22, and though the Heat had plenty of promising moments, they were always chasing from that point.
Near fulltime, Anderson made another rampaging run, finished by reserve wing. Montessa Tairakena. Veterans Hohepa, Ariana Bayler, Semple and Houpapa-Barrett were immense for Waikato, who found a lot of holes close to the ruck and always had a response to the hosts’ daring counterattacks.
With the win, Waikato effectively secured a home semifinal ahead of their final match against the winless Northland Kauri.
Three tries in 10 minutes before halftime catapulted Auckland to a vital 29-24 victory against Bay of Plenty at Tauranga Domain on Saturday in lock Eloise Blackwell's 150th first-class match.
Danii Mafoe from broken play and Angelica Mekemeke Vahai following a Bay of Plenty fumble finished tries that started from past halfway. When No 8 Elizabeth Moimoi crashed over from a rolling maul for her second, Auckland were a mile ahead.
The visitors threatened to expand the lead and eventually did with a 52nd-minute penalty.
But it was Kelly Brazier that revived Bay of Plenty. Five minutes after a break from a penalty tap, the Black Ferns Sevens legend chipped wide to the wing for a score. Brazier then denied Daynah Nankivell a certain try with a gutsy tackle.
Payton Takimoana on Brazier's outside was a threat and her 30-metre runaway ensured the Volcanix came away with two Premiership points, keeping them within range of reaching the semifinals.
Bay of Plenty (14 points) face Canterbury (16 points) in Rotorua on Sunday (kick-off 12.05pm) in what is essentially a quarterfinal. Auckland, who face the Hawke's Bay Tui in Round 7, also have 16 points.
A big crowd flocked to Prebbleton Domain and departed satisfied after Canterbury recorded two straight wins for the first time this season in a 36-7 victory over Hawke's Bay.
However, Canterbury were forced to tackle stoutly for large periods of the second half and did not break Hawke’s Bay until the 69th minute when reserve prop Kilisitina Vea smashed over.
Hawke’s Bay lost discipline, an intercept try to first-five Te Rauoriwa Harding, and another barge over by Vea was a disappointing way to end a competitive showing.
Canterbury’s loose forwards were a hive of activity. Keelah Bodle made 20 tackles and openside Neve Anglesey (15 tackles) had a direct hand in two tries. Laura Bayfield made 23 tackles and created the first try. Right winger Riko Yoshida was lively.
Perhaps the highlight of the match was Canterbury’s second try scored by Bodle. It came after a rampaging run by Moomooga Palu, who lost her boot after a mammoth run but still offloaded to Bodle while on the ground to create a try.
Undefeated Manawatu were ruthless in their 72-0 romp over the North Harbour Hibiscus in their Championship semifinal at Massey University.
The Cyclones won all five round-robin games with a record of 274 points for and just 60 against en route to the decider and Sunday was no different, running in 12 tries, including four from outside back Kaia Walker-Waitoa and a hat-trick to wing Wikitoria Doyle.
Manawatū more than doubled the score they achieved against North Harbour last Sunday. Walker-Waitoa came off the bench in the first minute, joining Te Whetumarama Nuku, Selica Winiata (twice), and Catherine Doyle as the only Manawatū players to score for tries in a single FPC match.
Fellow wing Doyle also saw plenty of ball as she bagged a hat-trick, each time on the end of an overlap chain after effective industry from the forwards.
Cyclones centre Hollyrae Mete proved a titan again, openside Anahera Hamahona had nine tackles, 16 defenders beaten, and 143 metres gained, and lock Sam Taylor topped the hosts' tackle count with 15.
Otago’s 51-38 upset of the Wellington Pride at Porirua's Jerry Collins Stadium was sensational, a 51-point turnaround from their 51-13 loss just seven days earlier.
Incredibly, Otago trailed by 11 points with 25 minutes to play before scoring four tries and 24 unanswered points to cause the shock of the season.
The sizeable Wellington pack started briskly with their power and offloading game creating two tries. Otago increased the pace, scoring a try from a quick-tap penalty and urgency was the formula in which the visitors employed to break the hosts.
Rookie centre Charlotte Va'afusuaga (17) was phenomenal breaking at will and scoring a 29th-minute try. Flanker Bella Rewiri-Wharerau was relentless and scored two tries, well supported by Zoe Frood, hooker Hannah Lithgow, and inspiring captain Julia Gorinski.
The Otago bench made a massive impact, with Isla Pringla and Leila Hill particularly noteworthy. Wellington lost second-five Monica Tagoai to the sinbin in the 72nd minute while trailing by just a point, with the Spirit taking advantage.
"I’m a little bit speechless. But I’m bloody ecstatic, to be fair," said Gorinski. "We knew we could do it. The scoreline last week probably didn’t reflect that, but we knew we just had a few things to identify and fix, and we did that."
FARAH PALMER CUP RESULTS
PREMIERSHIP - ROUND 6
Waikato 57 (Ariana Bayler, Chyna Hohepa 2, Chelsea Semple, Veisinia Fakalelu, Lela Ieremia, Grace Houpapa-Barrett, Mia Anderson, Montessa Tairakena tries; Chelsea Semple 6 con) Counties Manukau 29 (Mafi Pasikala, Jaymie Kolose, Sariyah Paitai, Yurina Shinno tries; Hazel Tubic 3 con, pen). HT: 26-22
Auckland 29 (Elizabeth Moimoi 2, Danii Mafoe, Angelica Mekemeke Vahai tries; Daynah Nankivell 3 con, pen) Bay of Plenty 24 (Holly Wratt-Groeneweg, Azalleyah Maaka, Penalty Try, Payton Takimoana tries; Kelly Brazier con). HT: 26-7
Canterbury 36 (Riko Yoshida, Keelah Bodle, Leanna Ryan, Kilisitina Vea 2, Te Rauoriwa Harding tries; Abigail Paton con, Harriet Cochrane 2 con) Hawke’s Bay 7 (Thamsyn Newton try; Krysten Cottrell con). HT: 15-7
CHAMPIONSHIP - SEMIFINALS
Manawatū 72 (Kaia Walker-Waitoa 4, Elinor-Plum King 2, Paige Lush, Jayme Nuku, Wikitoria Doyle 3, Riahn Brickland; tries; Corrineke Windle 6 con) North Harbour 0. HT: 40-0
Otago 51 (Bella Rewiri-Wharerau 2, Charlotte Va’afusuaga, Lucy Hall, Julia Gorinski, Leila Hill, Tegan Hollows, Sheree Hume tries; Georgia Cormick 4 con, pen) Wellington 38 (Shakira Baker 3, Alicia Print, Lavinia Lea, Milly Mackey tries; Arene Landon-Lane 4 con). HT: 20-26
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