NPC final: Taranaki beat Hawke’s Bay to win NPC title

Taranaki beat Hawke's Bay in the NPC final. Photo / Photosport

Pressure makes diamonds, but Taranaki turned the pressure put on them in the NPC final into silverware.

In a tense battle at New Plymouth’s Yarrow Stadium, Taranaki edged out Hawke’s Bay 22-19, thwarting the Magpies in terrific field position several times late in the contest to close out the win.

Taranaki have looked like a team capable of winning a title all season, with the emergence of first five-eighth Josh Jacomb adding to their already strong core of talent. But while they finished only behind Wellington on the leaderboard, Hawke’s Bay - who qualified for the playoffs as the fifth seed - had drawn plenty of attention on the field first by taking the Ranfurly Shield off Wellington before dispatching them from the competition last weekend.

Looking to claim their first premiership title since 2014, the hosts got off to the perfect start when centre Meihana Grindlay scored just two minutes into the contest, Jacomb’s conversion putting the hosts in the driver’s seat early.

That was improved upon less than 10 minutes later when second-five Daniel Rona crossed and with Taranaki making the scoreboard 12-0 it looked like the Magpies might be in for a long day.

Instead, the Hawke’s Bay side took flight and began to take over the game through the middle part of the first half. With tries to Lolagi Visinia and Tom Parsons, both converted by Lincoln McClutchie, the visitors stormed into the lead on the verge of halftime but went in one point down after a late Jacomb penalty goal.

It wasn’t a terrible position for the visitors to be in given they had won five of the six games in which they trailed at halftime this year, but a sparkling try to Taranaki halfback Adam Lennox extended the lead of the hosts.

It was one of several well-worked tries in the game, as Rona popped a lovely pass on his inside for Jacomb, who linked up with Perofeta. The fullback bobbled the pass at first, but shot into space when he did reel it in, before finding Rona, who moved the ball on to Lennox to score under the sticks.

It was a try that allowed the majority of the sellout 13,500-strong crowd to breathe a bit easier - albeit momentarily.

It took Hawke’s Bay just four minutes to hit back, working their way up the pitch with intent before showing patience in an attacking position and ultimately finding Geoff Cridge out wide to plant the ball down.

Leading by just three after the missed conversion, Taranaki looked to extend their lead from the tee, but Perofeta missed two shots at goal which allowed the Magpies to stay within an unconverted try of the win.

And they had their chances down the stretch too, peppering the Taranaki try line inside the final 10 minutes.

The hosts would not be beaten, though, and after a Parsons knock-on allowed them to clear the danger, Taranaki were able to close out the win; the crowd storming the pitch to celebrate.

Taranaki 22 (Meihana Gindlay, Daniel Rona, Adam Lennox tries; Josh Jacomb 2 cons, pen)

Hawke’s Bay 19 (Lolagi Visinia, Tom Parsons, Geoff Cridge tries; Lincoln McClutchie 2 cons)

HT: 15-14.