New Zealand Maori clinched the Pacific Nations Cup with a match-winning try three minutes from time for a 21-18 win over Australia A yesterday.
Wellington Hurricanes’ flanker Thomas Waldrom’s 77th-minute try enabled the New Zealand Maori to leapfrog the previously-unbeaten Australia A in the final standings and claim the tournament by just one point after five rounds.
Fullback Mark Gerrard had the chance to draw the match in the final minute, which would have been enough for Australia A to claim the title, only for his 45m attempt to fall agonizingly short to give the Maori the Cup.
It was the first appearance in the Pacific Nations Cup for the Maori, replacing the Junior All Blacks who romped to victory in the Cup’s first two years.
New Zealand Maori head coach Donny Stevenson had to endure some anxious moments before the final whistle signaled his team’s triumph.
“In the end, we had some experienced guys to get us through, but we didn’t make it easy for ourselves, we were really scrambling at the end,” he said. “We thought if we could put some phases together the opportunities would come, but we lost the ball at critical times. I was concerned at some of the decision making.”
“We only had to hold out for a couple of minutes and we ended up defending our line. Luckily that kick fell short,” he said.
Former rugby league international center Timana Tahu had appeared to put Australia A within sight of victory with his second try of the match for an 18-14 lead with 20 minutes left.
But with seven minutes remaining, the Maori chanced their arm, throwing the ball from side to side, and aided by some ruck penalties awarded by Fijian referee James Bolabiu while Australia A were in possession, the Kiwis were presented with a late chance to snatch the game.
Hurricanes center Tamati Ellison found a gap on the left and passed inside to Waldrom, who barged over between two defenders.
Scrum-half Piri Weepu converted from wide out to put the Maori in front with just minutes to go.
Australia A coach Phil Mooney described the close-run defeat as “a game of lost opportunities.”
“We really gifted them 14 points at the back end of the first half and worked really well in the second half to get ourselves into a position from where we probably should have shut the game out,” Mooney said. “But in the end, we just weren’t quite good enough.”
The Maori finished the tournament unbeaten with earlier victories over Tonga (20-9), Fiji (11-7), Samoa (17-6) and Japan (65-22).
■SAMOA 37, JAPAN 31
AFP, APIA, Samoa
Samoa ran in five tries to beat Japan 37-31 in a cliffhanger finish to seal third place in the Pacific Nations Cup on Saturday.
With three minutes remaining Japan were trailing by only one point and even when Samoa scored a late try, the game ended with the Japanese camped firmly on the opposition line.
The result ensured Samoa finished as the leading nation among the smaller islands in the six-nation tournament that has been dominated by Australia A and the New Zealand Maori.
Fiji dropped back to fourth after being beaten by Tonga earlier, while Japan finished fifth.
Although Samoa held a distinct size advantage over Japan and opened an early 14-0 lead, they were held in check by a resourceful defense and were never able to take firm control.
By halftime Japan had clawed their way back to 17-17, and when Samoa opened up a 29-17 lead in the second half, Japan came back with two tries to stay in contention until the end.
Samoa had two converted tries on the board within eight minutes when first flanker Semo Setiti scored out wide and then hooker Loleni Tafunai finished off an end-to-end move that started from turnover ball.
When Gavin Williams landed both conversions Samoa looked as if they would run away with the game, but they had not counted on the resourcefulness of the Japanese.
Their smaller forwards muscled up to drive Hare Makiri over the line and inside center Ryan Nicholas found a hole in the Samoa back-line to send Bryce Robins over.
Two conversions and a penalty by James Arlidge, and a penalty from Williams, locked the score at 17-17 at halftime.
Samoa opened the second half strongly with big prop Heroshi Tea selling a dummy worthy of a midfield back to score Samoa’s third try and Anitelea Tuilagi following him across the line soon after.
Another Williams conversion opened up a 12-point buffer, but Japan refused to lie down.
They came back with a try to Hirotoki Onozawa and when Williams replied with a penalty, replacement Takashi Kikutani scored Japan’s fourth try and Arlidge’s conversions narrowed the gap to 32-31 going into the final 10 minutes.
Although Japan did most of the attacking in the late stages, it was a breakout by Samoa which led to a try by replacement prop James Johnston to complete the scoring.
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