Hawke’s Bay win the Ranfurly Shield with a late converted try

Hawke’s Bay won the Ranfurly Shield against Wellington by beating the Lions 20-18 at Sky Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts took the famous old trophy from the Magpies last season and have not previously lost in 2023.

It was a classic Shield encounter with both teams displaying relentless defense and gusting winds affecting kicking and lineouts.

The first sustained attacking possession for both teams came from Ollie Sapsford’s 50/22 strike in the 10th minute.

Hawke’s Bay went eight stages into Lions territory before loss specialist Du’Plessis Kirifi awarded a holding penalty.

Another breakdown gave Wellington field position and a Peter Lakay line break had them hot in attack, with Xavier Numia scoring the first try of the game a few phases later.

The Magpies responded immediately. With a penalty advantage in the attacking scrum, Chase Tiatia snuck in behind Sapsford, a former Wellington Academy product, to put Hawke’s Bay on the board.

Their red zone defense held out against a Lions maul from a five-metre lineout, sparking a scrum that saw tenacious prop Joel Hinz claim another penalty this season.

Nick Grigg’s line break brought Hawke’s Bay into the red zone and Lincoln McClatchy scored a penalty in the 27th minute after being caught by a late tackle.

The Magpies piled on the pressure with a number of attacking set-pieces from five meters out, but Wellington turned it around and won their own penalty at the scrum.

It was the hosts who finished the first half stronger and when Tom Parsons was accused of not releasing his striker, Morgan converted the penalty to restore the lead.

Hawke’s Bay had a big chance in the 48th minute, building attacking phases before Siosiua Kaifa put the Magpies 10 meters ahead.

They pressed on but continued to dictate terms in the second half, going through 31 phases before Du’Plessis Kirifi forced another penalty for holding on.

Geoff Kridge’s pass to Puri Rocket-Stones for the break brought the Magpies back into the red zone and Jonah Lowe scored Hawke’s Bay’s second try in the 57th minute from a resulting overlap.

Chase Tiatia’s unarmed tackle on Julian Savea allowed Aidan Morgan to equalize five minutes later with a long-range goal from the penalty spot.

Connor Garden-Bachop almost gave Wellington the lead but his attempted goal was missed.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes the momentum swung back towards the Magpies.

But a brilliant 50/22 from Billy Proctor turned the game around, allowing Penieli Poaza to hit the back of a rolling maul at the lineout.

Savea tackled a man off the ball, allowing Lincoln McClatchy to fire a 10-metre lineout with three minutes to play.

Pick-and-go phases brought the ball into the midfield and former Wellington flanker Sam Smith returned to haunt his old team with a try under the posts.

Wellington won the ball from the kick-off but were cleared after 80 minutes.

Victory means Hawke’s Bay will retain the Ranfurly Shield for the summer and could secure a home NPC quarter-final at McLean Park next weekend pending other results.

Wellington 18 (Xavier Numia, Penieli Poaza tries; Aiden Morgan 1/2 cons, 2/2 penalties) Hawke’s Bay 20 (Olly Sapsford, Jonah Lowe, Sam Smith tries; Lincoln McClatchy 1/3 cons, 1/1 penalties) HT : 10-8