South Canterbury and Thames Valley still unbeaten

By Jared Smith photo by Kiwi TV

The Bunnings Heartland Championship streak continues for South Canterbury as the defending Meads Cup champions put 56 unanswered points on the side Steelform Whanganui had defeated by eight on Saturday.

Hosting Buller in Geraldine, South Canterbury scored eight tries, all of them converted by Willie Wright, who took over both the goal-kicking and first-five role for the injured Sam Briggs.

Winger Lisiate Folau and flanker Siu Kakala both score doubles.

South Canterbury will now turn their attention to defending the Hanan Shield against neighbours North Otago, who will not be bringing the Bill Osborne Taonga into their Oamaru clash, as East Coast made another successful defence with a 38-29 win in Ruatoria.

Momentum swung throughout the contest, East Coast leading 28-26 entering the last ten minutes, in a game where they lost three men to the sin bin.

First-five Terangi Fraser finished with an 18-point haul from a try, penalty, and all five conversions of their tries.

The win moved East Coast into the Top 4, North Otago moving back to third, which opened the way for the undefeated Thames Valley to slot in behind South Canterbury after a tough 30-22 win over the in-form West Coast in Greymouth.

The visitors trailed 14-13 at halftime but pulled ahead and also denied the home team any bonus points, falling back to fifth place ahead of their trip to Whanganui.

Back home on the artificial turf of Memorial Park, Wairarapa Bush picked up their second narrow win over an eastern team, defeating Poverty Bay 30-24, after coming from 17-11 down at halftime.

Mid Canterbury hadn’t had a lot to smile about so far in their campaign, but that changed on Saturday with a comfortable 43-14 win over Horowhenua-Kapiti in Ashburton, lifting them to within touching distance of the top eight.

Results, Week 3

Thames Valley bt West Coast 30-22. HT: 14-13 West Coast.

Mid Canterbury bt Horowhenua-Kapiti 43-14. HT: 24-7.

East Coast bt North Otago 38-29. HT: 21-14.

South Canterbury bt Buller 56-0. HT: 21-0.

Wairarapa Bush bt Poverty Bay 30-24. HT: 17-11 Poverty Bay.

King Country bt Whanganui 23-17. HT: 13-10.