Rugby: Nelson showdown against BoP

Round-robin winners Nelson Bays recovered from a woeful first half to book a home final against Bay of Plenty after beating Hawkes Bay 23-13 in their NPC second-division rugby semifinal at Nelson's Trafalgar Park yesterday.

Nelson Bays trailed 0-13 at halftime after Hawkes Bay's forwards dominated the opening spell to secure a huge territorial edge.

But stern words during the break from Nelson Bays coach Bill Liddell finally breathed life into his side as they stormed home with three second-half tries.

Bay of Plenty were too strong for King Country in the other semifinal, winning 31-6 at Rotorua on Friday night to book their second consecutive second-division final.

The Steamers ran in five tries, dominating a disappointing King Country, especially at the set phases.

Both sides made fundamental errors with the ball in hand, but Bay's defence was impregnable for the second consecutive week.

King Country captain Lee Peina opened the scoring with an early penalty before the Steamers struck back with a well-worked backline move to put fullback Paul Waiariki in for a try in the corner.

A second first-half try from outstanding Bay second five-eighths Nathan Strongman saw the home side out to a 12-3 lead, before Peina closed the gap late in the spell.

Bay seemed rejuvenated by the halftime break and came out firing with two tries inside six minutes.

The first was scored by winger Justin Wilson, who bulldozed his way through some poor defence near the line, before hooker Thompson Tapsell produced a dazzling 40m dash to score.

Play got scrappy through the middle stages of the half before Bay finished with a try to winger Keith Pryor near the end.

Bay coach Gordon Tietjens was pleased with the win, singling out the lineout work and scrum as major match-turners.

"We put ourselves under pressure early on but in the end we absorbed all their pressure and kept them from scoring," Tietjens said.

King Country coach Noel McQuilkin offered no excuses, saying they had been beaten by a better side. - NZPA