Rugby: Spirit finishes in style with late try

Otago Spirit lock Michaela Smith stretches to claim possession in a lineout against the Manawatu...
Otago Spirit lock Michaela Smith stretches to claim possession in a lineout against the Manawatu Cyclones at the University Oval on Saturday. Photo by Gregor Richardson.

Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali scored a brilliant individual try 10 minutes from fulltime to ensure the Spirit finished its season with a win on Saturday.

With the scores tied at 15-15 in blustery conditions at the University Oval, Subritzky-Nafatali, playing in the No 12 jersey, made a couple of defenders miss and raced 30m for the crucial score.

The Spirit had to hold off a resilient Cyclones side in the last 10 minutes to seal the win, but was aided by the visitors' wonky lineout and poor handling.

The win means Otago finishes fourth, six points behind third-placed Canterbury, with five wins and three losses.

With no semifinals in the nine-team competition, coach John Hyde's first season in charge of the team is over.

''I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been a good season,'' he said.

''Five wins and three losses, I'm pretty happy with how the team went. If we had managed to win the Waikato game it would have been good.

''No doubt the union will want a debrief, but if they're happy I'd love to stay on [as coach].''

Hyde is not planning on coaching club rugby next season and hopes to spend more time evaluating talent and growing the women's game locally.

Despite playing into a stiff breeze in the first half yesterday, the Spirit came out firing.

Fullback Sheree Hume opened the scoring inside the left-hand flag after just seven minutes.

The Cyclones hit back with a well-struck penalty goal a few minutes later, before outstanding Otago prop Phillipa Love barrelled over in the 17th minute to put her side 10-3 up.

However, the visitors took advantage of some sloppy defending with two quick tries, to take a surprising 15-10 lead at the half.

Subritzky-Nafatali made sure the Spirit dominated territory in the second half by constantly turning Manawatu around with long, raking kicks.

The Spirit's scrum, one of the best in the competition, dismantled Manawatu's and led to Michaela Baker scoring a fine try out wide early in the second half.

With the game all tied up, the home side fed off Manawatu's shoddy set piece and Subritzky-Nafatali came up trumps late in the game.

Auckland, which has won the competition every year but 2006 (Wellington) since its inception in 1999, will play Waikato in the final next weekend.

- Robert van Royen

Add a Comment