Live commentary has concluded
Thanks for joining us today - we will be back tomorrow with more wire to wire coverage of the Mitre 10 Cup.
Sunday results
Waikato 41 North Harbour 19
Taranaki 23 Canterbury 22 (Taranaki win Ranfurly Shield)
Bay of Plenty 17 Southland 14
Fulltime: Bay of Plenty 17 Southland 14
Bay of Plenty 17 (Fuatai, Tahuriorangi tries, Black 2con, pen)
Southland 14 (Nicole, Plesents-Tate tries, Eade 2con) HT 14-14
Fulltime - Bay of Plenty surivive a final 15 minute onslaught from Southland, who turned down several kickable shots at goal.
68mins - Black misses a fairly easy shot at extending the lead by three.
55mins - Penalty goal Bay of Plenty: Otere Black drills an excellent kick from about 35m out. BOP 17-14
That's halftime in Rotorua.
39mins - Try Bay of Plenty: Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi - Magic from the No.9. He darts out from the ruck, steps the fullback and crashes over to score. 14-14.
35mins - Try Southland: Greg Plesents-Tate - Classic lineout drive results in a try to the happy hooker who scores his third of the season. SOU 14-7
28mins - Try Southland: Amanaki Nicole - Isaac Te Tamaki stabs through a little chip kick from 30m out .... Amanaki Nicole is flying through and he pulls it in to score in the corner. 7-7
12mins - Try Bay of Plenty: Fa’asiu Fuatai - Great, patient attack from the Bay. 14 phases and finally Otere Black puts Fuatai through the gap and he dots down to score. BOP 7-0
Here are your lineups for the final game of the day.
Bay of Plenty: 1-Tevita Mafileo, 2-Kurt Eklund, 3-Jeff Thwaites, 4-Kane Le’aupepe, 5-Keepa Mewett, 6-Zane Kapeli, 7-Sam Cane, 8-Joe Tupe, 9-Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 10-Otere Black, 11-Fa’asiu Fuatai, 12-Chase Tiatia, 13-Regan Ware, 14-Joe Webber, 15-Dan Hollinshead
Reserves: 16-Nathan Vella, 17-Haereiti Hetet, 18-Ross Geldenhuys, 19-Stan van den Hoven, 20-Joe Johnston, 21-Luke Campbell, 22-Scott Curry, 23-Mathew Skipwith-Garland
Southland: 1-Joseph Walsh, 2-Greg Pleasents-Tate, 3-Siate Tokolahi, 4-Raymond Tatafu, 5-Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 6-Glenn Preston, 7-Matthew James, 8-Tony Lamborn, 9-Raniera Takarangi, 10-Scott Eade, 11-Amanaki Nicole, 12-Jaye Thompson, 13-Isaac Te Tamaki, 14-Rory van Vugt, 15-Joshua Moorby
Reserves: 16-Jason Rutledge, 17-Ethan De Groot, 18-Christopher Apoua, 19-Michael McKee, 20-Charles Alaimalo, 21-Logan Crowley, 22-Gregory Dyer, 23-Raymond Nu’u
=======================================================================
6:34pm - What an absolute stunning game of rugby. Taranaki led 20-3 at the break but you just knew the Cantabs would come storming home and they did. Congrats to the amber and blacks. One more game to come tonight - Bay of Plenty v Southland and we will have scoring updates right here.
Fulltime: Canterbury 22 Taranaki 23
Taranaki 23 (Tupou Vai'i, Jacob Ratumatayuki-Kneepkensx2 tries, J Barrett 1con, 2pens)
Canterbury 22 (Jager, Knewstubb, Mo'unga tries, Mo'unga 2con, 1pen) HT 20-3
80mins - That's it! Taranaki wind down the clock and Barrett boots the ball into touch.
78mins - Canterbury hot on attack 10m out and Boshier again! What a monster game he has had as he wins another turnover. One minute to play - penalty Taranaki! Offside play from the Cantabs.
76mins - Knock on at the lineout from Jordan. Scrum Canterbury midway halfway and 22.
75mins - Shilo Klein breaks out from inside his own half ... pulled down by Jordie Barrett and Florence wins the turnover penalty for his side. Taranaki penalty just outside their own 22.
74mins - Penalty goal Taranaki: Barrett drills it! Great kick that. TAR 23-22
73mins - Penalty for Taranaki on halfway and in front. Jordie steps up to have a crack.
71mins - Try Canterbury: Andrew Knewstubb - Great scrum from taranaki but Drummond clears wide out to Knewstubb who is unmarked on the wing and he scores. Mo'unga lands the kick for the lead. CAN 22-20
70mins - Scrum 5m for the Cantabs.
69mins - Penalty for Canterbury 5m out .... they are under a warning and the yellow card will be next.
68mins - A wayward pass from Drummond is almost plucked out of the air by Ormond and he could have sprinted the length to score. Scrum Canterbury 5m.
66mins - All Canterbury at the moment .... you get the feeling the try is coming. Lineout on the 22 for the Cantabs.
64mins - Scrum for Canterbury just inside their own half.
62mins - Canterbury coming at Taranaki with everything now, but they don't have Lachlan Boshier, who just won his side a defensive penalty with the Cantabs hot on attack. Lineout on halfway for the Naki.
57mins - Try Canterbury: Richie Mo'unga - That was too easy. Drummond off the back off the back of the scrum fires a pass to Mo'unga who is in to a huge hole to dot down and score under the posts. Mis-read in defence by Beauden Barrett and Wainui. TAR 20-15
56mins - Prinsep is held up over the line ... Lachlan Boshier it is again .... this time with a superb try saving tackle.
55mins - Penalty for Canterbury .... lineout 5m again.
54mins - Boshier with a magnificent breakdown steel saves the day for the Naki and he clears himself ... but Canterbury are rolling back up field.
52mins - Penalty for Canterbury 5m out. They opt for the lineout.
51mins - Whitelock makes up for his mistake ... wins a penalty at the breakdown. Lineout on the Naki 22 for Canterbury.
49mins - Scrum for Taranaki on the Canterbury 10m line .... Whitelock knocks the ball on at the lineout.
48mins - He misses just to the right of the posts ... should have landed that even though its was 45m out.
46mins - Whitelock pinged for being offside .... Jordie will have a shot.
45mins - 11 phases for Taranaki but the defence is superb. Beauden kicks .... batted back by Jordie and kicked over the sideline by Bridge.
42mins - Try Canterbury: Oliver Jager - Here they come folks. Great forwards play from the holders. They roll up field through pick n go's and eventually Yager crashes over. TAR 20-8
41mins - Exit play from Jordie Barrett is decent ... lineout Canterbury just inside Taranaki territory.
Second-half: Richie Mo'unga gets us back underway for the second-spell.
Halftime - That's the end of the first half and boy do the holders have some work to do in the second forty.
39mins - Mataele knocks the ball on and a try goes begging for Canterbury. He busted through Wainui's tackle but lost the ball as he weighed up passing or taking on Jordie Barrett. Scrum Taranaki inside their own 22.
37mins - Whitelock wins the lineout against the throw. Canterbury play through seven phases but the defence is brutal. Messy pass from Drummond, but he gets away with it as Waunui knocks the ball on looking to scoop it up. Scrum red and blacks just inside Taranaki territory.
36mins - Wow! Penalty for Taranaki for Moody dropping to his knees. He was warned by the referee two scrums ago. Barrett clears to midway 22 and halfway.
35mins - Luke Romano held up over the line but Canterbury were playing under advantage. Scrum 5m for the red and blacks.
33mins - Another penalty for Canterbury. Pulling down the scrum the ruling. Under a warning now. Scrum 5m for the holders.
31mins - Another penalty. Kaylum Boshier pinged for not rolling away. Scrum 5m for the red and blacks.
30mins - Riccitelli offside on the midfield and Canterbury have a penalty. They have a lineout on the Naki 22.
27mins - Try Taranaki: Jacob Ratumatayuki-Kneepkens - Brilliance from Beauden Barrett. An aimless kick from Mo'unga is fielded by Jordie Barrett who flings a pass to Beauden in broken play .... he beats three defenders with pace, including Whitelock, and draws McKay ... inside pass to Kneepkens who is over for a double. TAR 20-3
24mins - Rueben O'Neill pinged for a ruck infringement. Canterbury lineout just short of halfway.
23mins - Great stabbing kick from Beauden Barrett ... Canterbury have a defensive lineout on their 5m line.
22mins - Penalty goal Canterbury: Mo'unga slots it from in front. TAR 13-3
21mins - Penalty for Canterbury inside the Taranaki 22 and they opt for the shot at goal.
18mins - Whitelock wins a turnover for Canterbury and the red and blacks set off ..... Mataele is taken over the sideline by Waunui. Lineout Taranaki just outside their own 22.
16mins - Lineout steel for the challengers. Barrett clears .... McKay gathers and kicks out on the full. Lineout for the Naki midway halfway and 22, Cantab territory.
15mins - Scrum penalty for Canterbury on their own 10m line. Mo'unga finds touch midway 22 and halfway.
13mins - Good period of possession for Canterbury but McKay knocks the ball on just outside the Taranaki 22.
10mins - Try Taranaki: Tupou Vaa'i - Mo'unga coughs the ball up in possession ... Jordie Barrett snipes down the shortside .... inside pass to Vaa'i and he dives over to score in the corner. TAR 13-0
8mins - More great work at the breakdown by Taranaki. Vaa'i wins his side a third penalty. Lineout for the Naki on the Cantab 22.
6mins - Try Taranaki: Jacob Ratumatayuki-Kneepkens - Boshier breaks through the midfield ... his pass to Kneepkens is low but the winger toes ahead and regathers the ball to score in the corner. TAR 8-0
4mins - Mo'unga breaks in broken play .... Canterbury through six phases but there is a penalty against them for holding on. Lachlan Boshier over the ball that time.
3mins - Penalty goal Taranaki: No mistake from Jordie Barrett. TAR 3-0
2mins - Early penalty for the Naki. Barrett with the high kick is taken well ny McKay just outside the 22....Wainui hammers him and McKay is pinged for holding on.
1min - First lineout of the game for Taranaki on the Canterbury 10m line.
Kick-off: Beauden Barrett gets the game underway ... referee is Ben O'Keeffe.
4:30pm - Lovely day in Christchurch for what should be one of the best games of rugby this season.
Here are the lineups for this afternoons clash.
Canterbury: 1-Joe Moody, 2-Codie Taylor, 3-Oliver Jager, 4-Sam Whitelock, 5-Luke Romano, 6-Reed Prinsep, 7-Tom Christie, 8-Cullen Grace, 9-Mitchell Drummond, 10-Richie Mo'unga, 11-George Bridge, 12-Rameka Pohipi, 13-Isaiah Punivai, 14-Manasa Mataele, 15-Josh McKay
Reserves: 16-Shilo Klein, 17-Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18-Fletcher Newell, 19-Billy Harmon, 20-Ereatara Enari, 21-Brett Cameron, 23-Andrew Knewstubb
Taranaki: 1- Reuben O'Neill, 2-Ricky Riccitelli, 3-Ben May, 4-Josh Lord, 5-Tupou Vaa'i, 6-Mitchell Croswell, 7-Lachlan Boshier, 8-Kaylum Boshier, 9-Lisati Milo-Harris, 10-Beauden Barrett, 11-Lewis Ormond, 12-Teihorangi Walden, 13-Sean Wainui, 14-Jacob Ratumatayuki-Kneepkens, 15-Jordie Barrett
Reserves: 16-Bradley Slater, 17-Jared Proffit, 18-Donald Brighouse, 19-Jack Jordan, 20-Tom Florence, 21-Warwick Lahmert, 22-Jayson Potroz, 23-Brayton Northcott-Hill
This should be an absolute cracker clash with two sides stacked-full of talent with the Ranfurly Shield on the line.
Waikato hammer North Harbour in Hamilton
Final score: Waikato 41 North Harbour 19
Waikato 41 (Roe x2, McKenzie, Tupaea, M Jacobson, Te Whare tries, McKenzie 1pen, 4con)
North Harbour 19 (Pearce, Tolai, Gjatema tries, Gatland 2con) HT 29-12
Full time: That's a wrap from the opening game of the day. Coming up next - Canterbury v Taranaki for the Log o' wood.
79mins - Try Waikato: Valynce Te Whare - Great backline move from inside their own half. Tupaea sets a storming Te Whare free down the right hand side and he runs away to score. WAI 41-19
71mins - Try North Harbour: Lewis Gjatema - Finally we get some more second-half scoring. Harbour cross the line after several minutes of attack. Off the back of a 5m scrum runs Inis and he offloads to the replacement halfback who darts over to score. WAI 36-19
45mins - Try Waikato: Damian McKenzie - Tupaea breaks from inside his own half ... he draws the fullback and finds McKenzie on the inside and he runs away to score. WAI 36-12
2:49pm - Half-time in the opening game of the day - remember we will have extensive coverage of the Canbterbury v Taranaki Ranfurly Shield clash from just after 4pm right here.
39mins - Try North Harbour: Jacob Pearce - Carbon copy of Harbour's first try with the lineout maul. This time it's young lock Jacob Pearce. WAI 29-12
36mins - Penalty goal Waikato: McKenzie slots one from a handy angle. WAI 29-7
33mins - Try North Harbour: Lutero Tolai - Lineout 10m out for Harbour and the maul is superb ... Tolai crashes over for their first of the day. WAI 26-7
28mins - Try Waikato: Mitch Jacobson - Simple lineout drive from close to the line and Jacobson dives over to score. This could be a cricket score. WAI 26-0
21mins - Try Waikato: Xavier Roe - The little halfback is over again. McKenzie breaks free down the left hand side ... he cuts back in and beats Bryn Hall, inside ball to Roe who jogs in from 10m. WAI 19-0
15mins - Try Waikato: Quinn Tupaea - Harbour on the attack but Fletcher-Smith intercepts and he's away.....two phases and it's Quinn Tupaea who is away and dives over untouched. WAI 12-0
10mins - Try Waikato: Xavier Roe - Roe from the base of the scrum dummies to his right and runs, beats the fullback and dives over for a wonderful little try. WAI 7-0
4mins - Damian McKenzie misses a fairly handy shot at goal for Waikato. 0-0
Here are the teams for the opening game of the afternoon:
Waikato: 1-Ollie Norris, 2-Samisoni Taukei’aho, 3-Josh Iosefa-Scott , 4-Hamilton Burr, 5-Samipeni Finau, 6-Adam Thomson, 7-Mitch Jacobson, 8-Luke Jacobson, 9-Xavier Roe, 10-Fletcher Smith, 11-Gideon Wrampling, 12-Anton Lienert-Brown, 13-Quinn Tupaea, 14-Liam Coombes-Fabling, 15-Damian McKenzie
Reserves: 16-Steven Misa, 17-Rob Cobb, 18-George Dyer, 19-James Thompson, 20-Simon Parker, 21-Cortez Ratima, 22-Rivez Reihana, 23-Valynce Te Whare
North Harbour: 1-Karl Tu'inukuafe, 2-Lutero Tolai, 3-Sione Mafileo, 4-Gerrard Cowley-Tuioti, 5-Jacob Pearce, 6-Ethan Roots, 7-Dillon Hunt, 8-Murphy Taramai, 9-Bryn Hall, 10-Bryn Gatland, 11-Tomas Aoake, 12-Jimmy Little, 13-Jared Page, 14-Ngarachi McGarvey-Black, 15-Shaun Stevenson
Reserves: 16-Zane Turner, 17-Teague McIlroy, 18-Jimmy Roots, 19-Xavier Cowley-Tuioti, 20-Lotu Inisi, 21-Lewis Gjatema, 22-Jack Heighton, 23-Walter Fifta
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kia ora and welcome to live updates of Saturday's three Mitre 10 Cup matches, with some thrilling games on the schedule.
Waikato host North Harbour in the opening match of 'Super Saturday' and both teams will be competing for the Les Pearce Cup.
Les Pearce was involved in both Waikato and North Harbour rugby throughout his life before his death in 2002. Harbour are the current holders having beaten Waikato in their last outing.
Then Canterbury put the Ranfurly Shield on the line lagainst Taranaki, which will see Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett go head-to-head again in the battle of the All Blacks playmakers.
The final game of the day sees Bay of Plenty face Southland.
Schedule:
Waikato v North Harbour - 2:05pm
Canterbury v Taranaki - 4:35pm
Bay of Plenty v Southland - 7:05pm
