Waikato will host Canterbury in the Farah Palmer Cup's Premiership final at FMG Stadium Waikato on Saturday.
The two teams had contrasting victories in last weekend's semifinals, with top qualifiers Waikato romping to a 69-12 win over Auckland in Hamilton, while Canterbury overcame Counties Manukau 36-31 in Pukekohe.
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Canterbury reached the FPC Premiership final for the eighth consecutive year with a heart-stopping victory over the Heat.
Down 31-24 with three minutes remaining in Pukekohe, Canterbury’s perennial reign as finalists appeared dead in the water, but hat-trick fullback Winnie Palamo scored twice to engineer a miracle.
Laura Bayfield sparked the resurgence when she gathered an awkward kick inside her 22. Canterbury rapidly built phases before wing Emma Whinney busted to halfway, linking with Terauoriwa Gapper and Stacey Niao, who offloaded to Palamo to dot down out wide.
Reserve Alex Williamson exploded into a hole at the restart, before prop Philomena Petaia charged into the Counties half. The home side was scrambling on defence, and Palamo was unmarked three slick passes later.
Canterbury led 24-12 at halftime but Counties made a handful of replacements at halftime, with the ‘bomb squad’ taking immediate effect as starting prop Leilani Perese powered over after 55 seconds.
Counties lost Ariana Marino-Tauhinu to the sin-bin for a high tackle in the 55th minute but Gapper followed five minutes later for cynical play.
Counties claimed the lead for the first time in the 65th minute when wing Shyanne Thompson scored her second try. It came after a determined surge by Faimasui-Brown and a long pass by Hazel Tubic, who added a sideline conversion.
Kilisitina Vea became the second Canterbury player yellow-carded as the Heat hammered away inside the Canterbury 22.
Jaymie Kolose caught a dropout, spun through three defenders, and muscled the hosts to within 10m of the line. A thunderous charge by Perese followed before Harono Te Iringa clattered over in the 71st minute for a seven-point lead.
Waikato walloped Auckland by a record score a month ago and were even better on Sunday in avenging their 2023 semifinal loss to the Storm, cracking a half-century by halftime.
Waikato bullied the significantly younger Auckland from the outset, with prop Veisinia Fakalelu dummying, sprinting, and scoring after six minutes.
First-five Kaea Nepia collected a Waikato semifinal record haul of 24 points, with the best of her two tries a 55m break in the opening quarter.
The Waikato forwards went to work with ruthlessness, urgency, and precision. Hooker Grace Houpapa-Barrett has scored 10 tries in 2024 and was an imposing presence. Blindside Mia Anderson played a blinder and Fakalelu might be attracting wider interest with her blockbusting form.
All three scored joined Nepia in scoring two tries, while Emma-Lee Heta and Lela Ieremia also crossed in a dominant first half, which saw them up 50-7 at the break.
In midfield, Chelsea Semple and Rina Parone enjoyed a combined 35 touches and offered ample punch and variety. Daynahh Nanvivell, Eloise Blackwell, Elizabeth Moimoi and Braxton Sorenson-McGee were among the Storm’s best in 2024.
FARAH PALMER CUP RESULTS
PREMIERSHIP SEMIFINALS
Canterbury 36 (Fia Laikong, Riko Yoshida, Winnie Palamo 3, Stacey Niao tries; Abigail Paton 3 con) Counties Manukau 31 (Misaki Suzuki, Shyanne Thompson 2, Leilani Perese, Harono Te Iringa tries; Hazel Tubic 3 con). HT: 24-12
Waikato 69 (Veisinia Fakalelu, Mia Anderson 2, Kaea Nepia 2, Grace Houpapa-Barrett 2, Reese Anderson 2, Emma-Lee Heta, Lela Ieremia tries; Kaea Nepia 7 con) Auckland 12 (Danii Mafoe, Simina Lokotui tries; Braxton Sorenson-McGee con). HT: 50-7
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