Waikato seal play-off spot

Job done: Waikato players high-five each other after the final whistle

Waikato pulled out all the stops in an eleven-try action-packed thriller to beat a determined Taranaki outfit 45-41 in Hamilton on Thursday, thus securing their place in the Air New Zealand Cup quarter-finals.

Waikato trailed 0-21 after almost as many minutes then 17-38 with 30 minutes remaining before storming home with a last-minute try to wing Sitiveni Sivivatu to guarantee themselves a place in the play-offs.

The returning All Blacks played a big part in this Air New Zealand Cup thriller, and it was hooker Andrew Hore that crashed over for the first try for Taranaki.

The visitors gained an extra two points thanks to the boot of fly-half Willie Ripia who slotted the conversion against his former team-mates after five minutes of play.

In a tough and exciting encounter, Taranaki were denied a second try when Shayne Austin's final pass to fellow winger Paul Perez was deemed forward by referee Bryce Lawrence.

It mattered not, however, as in the space of three minutes inside centre Jayden Hayward and Perez were over the whitewash for the impressive-looking Amber and Blacks.

They scored in almost identical fashion after stepping inside Waikato pivot Stephen Donald when Taranaki attacked on the blindside from scrums inside the opposition 22.

Ripia was on target with both conversions and Waikato were on the ropes early on after trailing by a whopping 21 points.

Waikato finally clicked into gear thanks to some interlinking play from their All Blacks, when returning centre Richard Kahui split the Taranaki line with ease before drawing a player and passing to Donald who scored the try.

Sivivatu set up the home side's second try when he stepped his way through Taranaki's defence before passing to wing Tim Mikkelson who danced along the touchline before flicking an inside pass to skipper Liam Messam who scored.

A breakdown in communication by Waikato handed Taranaki a bonus-point try when a cheeky chip kick was kicked into open space which full-back Jack Cameron easily collected and dotted down.

The try was a double-whammy of bad news for the home side as Donald was forced to leave the field after suffering an injury to his ribs after being involved in a heavy tackle.

Although the Mooloo men went close, they were not able to cross the line before the whistle spelt the end of an exciting first half that had Taranaki in front 28-14.

Waikato's injury woes worsened after the break when they lost captain Messam to a hamstring problem.

His departure followed the best of the match's tries when Austin capped a 75 metre move sparked by Scott Waldrom and carried on by fellow flanker Chris Walker, who ran half the length of the field before offloading to his left wing.

Ripia's conversion carried Taranaki out to a 38-17 advantage with 30 minutes remaining, which under normal circumstances would have assured them of victory.

But there was nothing normal about this free-flowing match as Waikato showed desperation to hit back with tries to prop Hikairo Forbes and number eight Sione Lauaki.

Callum Bruce nailed a beauty of a kick from the touchline to draw the scores at 38-38 with a little over 10 minutes remaining.

Lauaki then gave away three points when he purposefully knocked the ball out of a Taranaki player's hands and got sin-binned, allowing Ripia to nail the penalty kick with around five minutes remaining.

Down to fourteen men, Waikato never gave up and patiently made their way upfield, creeping closer and closer to the line in search of a try that would guarantee at least another week of rugby.

Sivivatu was the player that finally broke the Taranaki defence and scored the match-winning touchdown on the stroke of full-time that secured a hard-fought victory that propelled the home side into the quarter-finals.

The result left them on 25 points, while there was consolation in defeat for Taranaki because the two points they picked up were also enough to cement their play-off spot.

Taranaki are on 23 points and safely out of reach of the ninth to 11th placed Northland, Tasman and Otago.

The scorers:

For Waikato:

Tries: Donald, Sivivatu 2, Messam, Forbes, Lauaki

Cons: Bruce 4, Donald 2

Pen: Bruce

For Taranaki:

Tries: Hore, Cameron, Hayward, Perez, Austin

Cons: Ripia 5

Pens: Ripia 2

Yellow card: Lauaki, proffesional foul (Waikato, 75 min)

Waikato: 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 Tim Mikkleson, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 David Bason; 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Tom Harding, 6 Liam Messam (c), 5 Romana Graham, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Aled de Malmanche, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Hikairo Forbes.

Replacements: 16 Vern Kamo/Josh Hohneck, 17 Toby Smith, 18 Kent Fife, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Malcolm Barnes, 21 Callum Bruce, 22 Dwayne Sweeney.

Taranaki: 15 Jack Cameron, 14 Paul Perez, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Jayden Hayward, 11 Shayne Austin, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Brett Goodin; 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Chris Walker, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Shane Cleaver, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Penn (c).

Replacements: 16 Laurence Corlett, 17 Hamish Mitchell, 18 Leon Power, 19 Nemia Soqeta, 20 Brendan Haami, 21 Isaia Tuifua, 22 Nathan Hohaia.

Referee: Chris Pollock

TMO: Steve Walsh