South Canterbury had to follow the script from the previous weekend, as they came from behind 21-25 at halftime to secure their 28th Heartland Rugby win in a row, over neighbours Mid Canterbury by 50-35, on Saturday.
The win meant South Canterbury toppled a long standing first-class provincial championship game record held by Auckland.
Auckland achieved a 27 competition game win-streak from 1989-1991, eventually losing to Otago at Carisbrook on September 21, 1991.
South Canterbury Rugby CEO Tim Hyde-Smith called the record-breaking win an outstanding achievement.
‘‘I think it is a huge testament to all the clubs and the club rugby we play here.’’
It was also a very special day for co-captain Tokoma’ata Fakatava as he led the team on to the field for his 50th cap.
A proud South Cantabrian since moving here more than 11 years ago, earlier this season Toko played his 150th club match and at the weekend had his wife, three children and wider family attending.
The match was the first of three to be held in a Crusadersregion triple-header event at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch, before the Heartland Buller v West Coast and NPC Canterbury v Tasman matches.
The local derby turned out to be an entertaining match to start the day, with both sides looking to play attacking rugby right from the outset.
South Canterbury (SC) probably had their best first half so far this season with forwards and backs all looking much more positive, as phases and a running rather than stagnant backline looked more organised.
However, in a game that didn’t have a lot of errors, any mistakes that were made were capitalised on and the lead changed five times in the first half.
A disallowed try to Clarence Moli after 20 minutes will haunt the assistant referee when watching the replay, but it didn’t in the end affect the outcome as SC scored three minutes later under the posts.
Vinnie Leatigaga — who had brought up the 250 point milestone last weekend for South Canterbury — continued showing his form comeback as he sniffed out opportunities to score a hat-trick of tries.
In the backs, loan player Zach Mackay was the organiser of the backline with great decisionmaking, putting guys into space or creating it for them.
He capped it off with a deft chip kick that led to Leatigaga’s third try.
The inside back combo of Willie Wright and Sam Briggs also looked more decisive.
Up front the standout forward was lock Anthony Amato, who drove straight and broke at least the first tackle (if not three) all day while doing all his work in the tight too and was rewarded with two tries.
The loose forward trio of Siu Kakala, Loni Toumohuni and Finlay Joyce all had big days as well and with the tight forwards managed to dominate at scrum time by the final quarter.
Mid Canterbury weren’t without some special moments and their first five Josh Jennings — with a personal haul of 20 points — had a big influence on the game, but the South Canterbury side just had too much firepower.
Try scorers: Leatigaga (3), Amato (2), Wright, Toumohuni, Kakala. Conversions: Briggs (5).
A one point win for North Otago over Thames Valley (34-33) has kept their chances of making the Meads Cup semifinals alive but will need Thames Valley to beat Ngāti Porou East Coast as well (the winner will be a semifinalist), while Whanganui look assured of a semi spot again, alongside SC who have secured a home semi with a round to play this weekend in Gisborne against Poverty Bay.
Table: South Canterbury 35, Thames Valley 27, Whanganui 27, Ngāti Porou East Coast 25, North Otago 22, Wairarapa Bush 17, West Coast 16, Poverty Bay 15, Mid Canterbury 14, Buller 13, King Country 11, Horowhenua-Kapiti 11.
