Wanganui team to beat in Heartland Championship

As a statement of intent, Wanganui's dismissive backhanding of Heartland Championship rugby rivals Poverty Bay will take some beating.

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Wanganui embarrassed Poverty Bay with a 56-0 drubbing in the last round of the Meads Cup competition yesterday.

At the end of the day that meant a semifinal next Saturday between the same teams at the same Wanganui venue.

Poverty Bay were without regular captain Scott Leighton, who missed the match due to suspension, but he will be back on deck next Saturday.

His team will need him and much, much more to simply be competitive after leaking eight tries to a Wanganui side still smarting from their loss the previous week to Mid Canterbury.

Wanganui and Mid Canterbury ended the regular season locked together on 30 points, but that result in Ashburton enabled the southerners to claim the top qualifying place, and with it a home semifinal against neighbours South Canterbury.

Mid Canterbury warmed up for that task with a 24-6 win over Wairarapa Bush in Masterton while South Canterbury leaped past Horowhenua-Kapiti into the fourth qualifying position with a 33-18 win in Levin.

Horowhenua-Kapiti led 15-13 at halftime but a crippling error rate played into South Canterbury's hands as they eventually profited from a wealth of turned over possession.

A breakout try from their own line completed by lock Craig Smith in the final minute encapsulated Horowhenua-Kapiti's woes as they squandered a series of tryscoring opportunities.

Wing Maile Iong'i touched down either side of the break for South Canterbury while Horowhenua-Kapiti's ill discipline was also a regular source of points for goalkicker Kane Wahlstrom, who contributed 18 points.

The Lochore Cup semifinals will also feature a local derby, with top qualifiers West Coast hosting neighbours Buller.

West Coast will carry considerable momentum into the playoff after a surprisingly comprehensive 35-17 win over North Otago yesterday in Greymouth.

West Coast hooker Rowan O'Gorman scored a try after the final hooter to give his side a fourth try and an invaluable bonus point.

O'Gorman's audacious chip kick over the North Otago defence bounced back into his arms and he managed to stretch out and plant the ball across the line.

The team's first bonus point of the season put West Coast one point ahead of North Otago on the standings.

Buller turned a near-monopoly of possession into a 29-17 bonus point win over Thames Valley in Westport after they totally dominated possession.

It wasn't until midway through the second spell that Buller clicked into gear, with three unanswered, late tries to Scott Higginson, Shane Christie and Temi Faifua inflating the scoreline.

North Otago will play King Country in the other semifinal, with King Country running into some form after flogging East Coast 60-14 in Ruatoria.

Replacement winger Gabriel Wills helped himself to a hat-trick of tries as King Country scored 43 unanswered points in the final 25 minutes.