The Hawke's Bay Magpies rugby team's quest to stay in the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership is over.
Waikato sent the Magpies back to the Championship with a 46-22 win at Hamilton's FMG Stadium tonight. The Magpies will be playing for pride when they host Championship outfit Bay of Plenty in their final game of the season at Napier's McLean Park next Saturday night.
Waikato not only secured their berth in the Premiership for next year, they also kept their semifinal hopes alive.
The Magpies first half effort was a repeat of what they produced in Palmerston North and worse. The biggest problem of their season, missed tackles, returned big time.
Hawke's Bay missed 12 trackles in the first half, eight more than Waikato. They made far too many errrors and and conceded seven penalties, five more than Waikato.