South Canterbury succumbed in the second half of the Meads Cup semi-final to a rampaging Thames Valley, going down 61-31 at Fraser Park on Saturday.
The ‘‘Green and Blacks’’ were in the game at halftime, with the scores locked at 24-all, and briefly led at the start of the second half.
The slick Swamp Foxes however scored 24 points, in eight minutes, courtesy of three converted tries and a penalty, to effectively end the contest.
Thames Valley, who are the defending champions, will travel to Ashburton on Saturday to take on the No 1 qualifiers Mid Canterbury, in a repeat of last year’s final.
Mid Canterbury held off a tenacious Wairarapa Bush 21-19 in their semifinal in Ashburton.
In the Lochore Cup (for 5th to 8th place) Horowhenua-Kapiti beat Whanganui 40-18, while North Otago beat Poverty Bay 48-46, in a try-fest, to host the final.
It was a disappointing end to the campaign for South Canterbury, having finished second on the table after the round-robin and they were hoping to cap Willie Wright’s 100th game with a win, rather than a whimper.
Thames Valley No 8 Aporosa Vubiyayawa was the star of the first half with a hat-trick of tries, as he proved hard to stop from close range.
Fullback Quinn Collard converted all three and ended the game with a perfect record off the tee.
South Canterbury hung in well in the first half with three welltaken tries, but struggled to match the physicality of the Thames Valley pack.
Right wing Kalavini Leatigaga skipped down the sideline to score first, then Wright took a quick tap, catching the Swamp Foxes napping and a clever pass to strong running second five Zac Saunders saw him score.
Fullback Sioeli Filimoehala then scored with halftime showing on the clock, after a clever long pass from first five Miles Medlicott gave him space out wide.
Wright added the conversion to tie the scores at 24-all.
South Canterbury started the second half brilliantly with a 70m move when left wing Sireli Masi found space and dived spectacularly under the cross bar.
Unfortunately, from there it was all Thames Valley, playing clever rugby with a strong nor’wester at their backs.
The Swamp Foxes ran well from everywhere and South Canterbury fell off crucial tackles, while two massive 50-20 kicks also kept the home side pinned back.
When South Canterbury did get a couple of opportunities late in the game poor handling let them down.
It is hard to argue against the fact the two best sides have made the final.
Mid Canterbury was the only unbeaten side in the roundrobin, while five other sides finished with a five-win, three loss record, but Thames Valley looked a class above the rest.
For South Canterbury, centurion Wright was a standout, both sparking the attack and on defence.
The back three looked dangerous with ball in hand but did not get enough opportunities, as the side lived off scraps.
It was the second time in two years South Canterbury has exited at the Mead Cup semifinal, having won the title three times in a row before that.
