Rugby: Refs kept busy across country

Semi Kunatani takes on the Tongan line during Fiji's 29-19 win in an entertaining match. Photo / Photosport

The legendary old rocker Elton John might have been on to something when he sang 'Saturday night's all right for fighting', with yellow cards aplenty handed out across the country yesterday.

Fiji, Tonga, Waikato, Hawke's Bay and Northland all saw players spend time in the sin bin on what was a wild day of rugby.

Fijian No 8 Peceli Yato and his Tongan counterpart Maama Vaipulu were both shown yellow cards for throwing punches late in their clash during the Pasifika Challenge at Eden Park but seemed to have no hard feelings afterwards, shaking hands at the end of Fiji's 29-19 win.

Both sides showed why they'll be entertaining watches at the World Cup starting in three weeks, with plenty of attacking flair during the nine-try affair.

It was the second match of the Challenge event, after Samoa had a 36-19 tune-up win over the New Zealand Heartland XV.

In the National Provincial Competition, Northland and Hawke's Bay both had players see yellow during their clash in Whangarei.

Northland's Isileli Tuungafasi was sent for a spell 47 minutes into the clash but Hawke's Bay couldn't capitalise on the one-man advantage as both sides looked to gain some sort of ascendancy.

While Hawke's Bay couldn't achieve it with the numbers advantage, it eventually came their way as they ran out to a 43-28 lead.

With the result in the bag, the visitors saw lock Isaia Walker-Leawere sent for an early shower in the final minute of the game but it had no impact on the result.

Discipline was also an issue for Waikato, who settled for a 20-20 draw against Auckland in Hamilton, with lock James Tucker the one to be made an example of after his team conceded too many penalties inside their own 22 early in the contest.

Waikato raced out to an early 14-3 lead before Tucker was sent from the pitch. Unlike Hawke's Bay, Auckland took advantage of the player advantage to close the gap.

Waikato pushed their lead out to 10 points but allowed Auckland back into the match late. Both teams had chances to win long after the hooter sounded but neither took their chances and had to settle for an anticlimactic draw.

In the only NPC game not to feature a yellow card, Canterbury matched the clock to embarrass Southland 80-0 in Christchurch. The red and blacks ran in 12 tries, including doubles for Ryan Crotty, Mitchell Drummond and Josh McKay.