At Rugby Park, Christchurch: Canterbury 59 (Pip Love 3’, Grace Steinmetz 7’, Holly Wratt-Groeneweg 13’, 17’, 25’, Amy Du Plessis 39’, Amy Rule 48’, Martha Mataele 61’, 80+1’ tries; Rosie Kelly 7, Hannah King con) Hawke’s Bay 29 (Tee Aiolupotea 33’, Denise Aiolupotea 46’, Jade Tangaere-Tahua 69’, Nicolette Adamson 76’, 79 tries; Krysten Cottrell 2 con) HT: 40-5
Canterbury will meet Auckland in a rematch of last year’s Farah Palmer Cup final after routing Hawke’s Bay to qualify for their seventh consecutive Premiership decider.
Like they were when they met in the regular season, the reigning champions were far too good for the Tui in Sunday’s semifinal at Christchurch’s Rugby Park.
A huge first half laid the foundation for Canterbury’s comprehensive 59-29 win with flanker Holly Wratt-Groeneweg scoring a 25-minute hat-trick in the tryfest.
Canterbury blew away Hawke’s Bay in the opening exchanges, racing out to an early lead after scoring four times inside a breathless opening 17 minutes.
John Davidson/PHOTOSPORT
Holly Wratt-Groeneweg scored a hat-trick in Canterbury’s semifinal win over Hawke’s Bay.
They were 35-0 up when Wratt-Groeneweg completed her hat-trick in the 25th minute after slicing through the defence and outsprinting an opposition prop to the right corner.
The contest was effectively over at halftime as Canterbury took a 40-5 lead into the break, but to Hawke’s Bay’s credit they were significantly more competitive in the second half and managed to avoid another blow out like the 84-14 humbling they experienced in their previous meeting earlier in the season.
Although they were unable to drag themselves back into the contest, the Tui actually outscored Canterbury 24-19 in the second 40 after winger Nicolette Adamson added a late double to bring the scoreline to a more respectable margin.
Canterbury will return to Rugby Park to host Auckland next Saturday afternoon after the Storm struck late through Black Ferns star Ruahei Demant to upset Waikato 29-22 at FMG Stadium Waikato in the first Premiership semifinal.
Canterbury beat Auckland 41-14 in last year’s final to claim their fifth title in six years.
