Bay of Plenty 39
North Harbour 29
Three secondhalf tries to Lelia Masaga proved the deciding factor as Bay of Plenty took out a high-scoring ITM Cup match 39-29 over North Harbour at Rotorua today.
Ahead 20-12 at halftime, Bay of Plenty had to work hard to stave off a determined second comeback from Harbour, but Masaga's hattrick secured a six-try bonus-point victory.
New Zealand coach Graham Henry was in the stand, there to evaluate the form of North Harbour's
Luke McAlister as a replacement for injured All Blacks pivot Dan Carter for their final Tri-Nations match.
McAlister would have done his prospects no harm at all with a solid allround performance, displaying excellent vision and featuring in two of Harbour's four tries.
Handling errors proved costly initially for both teams, but it was the home team who finally hung onto the ball to open the scoring in the 15th minute through second five-eighth Phil Burleigh.
Flanker Luke Braid made it 10-0 five minutes later, burrowing over after some good work from Tanerau Latimer in breaking the line was carried on by more straight running from Burleigh.
North Harbour responded almost immediately as centre Jack Tarrant finished off a slick backline move in which McAlister featured prominently.
The Harbour first five-eighth added the extras to narrow Bay of Plenty's lead to three.
Bay of Plenty first five-eighth Mike Delany, previously wayward with the boot, finally found his range with a 26th minute penalty to again give Bay of Plenty some breathing space.
That was extended further 10 minutes from the break when winger Lance MacDonald finished off a length of the field team try, and Delany's conversion stretched the lead to 20-7.
Barely three minutes later, however, North Harbour lock Anthony Boric showed good strength in the tackle to crash over, narrowing Bay of Plenty's halftime lead to 20-12.
James Parson closed it to within one four minutes after the restart, sliding over after Nafi Tuitavake tapped back a pinpoint McAlister crosskick into the Harbour hooker's grateful arms.
The tit-for-tat scoring continued, winger Lelia Masaga picking up Bay of Plenty's bonus-point try in the 50th minute, crossing again 10 minutes later for his second then winding up for the hat-trick in the 65th minute.
Tuitavake crossed for Harbour's bonus-point try with just three minutes left on the clock.
Bay of Plenty 39 (Lelia Masaga 3, Phil Burleigh, Luke Braid, Lance MacDonald tries; Mike Delany pen, 3 con) North Harbour 29 (Jack Tarrant, Anthony Boric, James Parsons, Nafi Tuitavake; Luke McAlister con; Michael Harris 2 con, pen). Halftime: 20-12.
- NZPA
