Wellington U19s lose 19-17 to Auckland A in semifinal

It proved to be a game of inches for the Wellington Under 19s as they lost 19-17 to Auckland A in a Graham Mourie Cup semifinal that went to the wire in Taupo today.

The loss means Wellington will play Canterbury in the play off for third and fourth on Wednesday, while Auckland A will play Waikato in the final.

Defending champions Canterbury were knocked out of the Jock Hobbs Memorial tournament by Waikato during an exciting day at Owen Delany Park that saw Wellington's hopes end after a last gasp drop goal drifted wide in the final play of the semifinal.

It was a tough loss for a Zak Feaunti coached Wellington side that outscored Auckland A three tries to one and had fought their way back into a winning position after having little possession or territory in the first half to trail 13-5 at the break.

With first five Simon Polson controlling play and kicking his goals and tight head prop head Jerry Samania crashing over, Auckland A were well in control of the early exchanges to build a 10-0 lead.

Wellington fought back with a try to centre Levi Harmon after lock Isaia Walker-Leawere had made an initial bust and fullback Peter Umaga-Jensen's inside pass been lost by an Auckland A player on the try line.

Auckland A opened the scoring after the break with a penalty to Wiseguy Faiane, but the second half saw a gradual change of momentum as Wellington A's big pack began to get on top of their opposites.

Wing Losi Filipo crossed after a good build up and a perfect grubber kick from Peter Umaga-Jensen, who had moved to centre for the injured Harmon to close to 16-10 and Wellington took the lead with 20 minutes to go when prop Alex Fidow crashed over following a quick tap penalty, first five Sam Fox's conversion making it 17-16.

Wellington were enjoying all the possession with the ball carrying of Walker-Leawere and Fidow coming into its own, captain Josh Brown leading from example in all facets, but Faiane's second penalty gave his team a crucial an Auckland A penalty to put his side back in the lead.

With the clock winding down, Wellington strung together a patient 30-plus phase build up as they worked their way into the Auckland 22, but Fox's potential match winning drop goal drifted to the right of the uprights.

Meanwhile, in the Michael Jones Cup (Championship), defending champions Counties-Manukau ran in three tries to overcome Tasman 22-11. They will meet Bay of Plenty in the final after the Steamers won the 'battle of the bays' by beating Hawkes Bay 31-8.

DAY TWO RESULTS

Michael Jones Trophy
Semi-final: Bay of Plenty 31 def Hawke's Bay 8
Semi-final: Counties Manukau 22 def Tasman 11
5th-8th play-off: North Harbour 36 def Southland 24
5th-8th play-off: Northland 18 def Heartland 8

Graham Mourie Cup
5th-8th play-off: Manawatu 52 def Auckland B 10
5th-8th play-off: Otago 62 def Taranaki 23
Semi-final: Waikato 32 def Canterbury 21
Semi-final: Auckland A 19 def Wellington 17

DAY THREE DRAW (Wednesday 21 September)

Michael Jones Trophy
11.05am: 13-14th play-off: North Harbour v Northland
11.05am: 15th-16th play-off: Southland v Heartland
1.05pm: 11th-12th play-off: Hawke's Bay v Tasman
3.20pm: Final: Bay of Plenty v Counties Manukau

Graham Mourie Cup
1.05pm: 7th-8th play-off: Auckland B v Taranaki
1.40pm: Bronze final: Canterbury v Wellington
3.05pm: 5th-6th play-off: Manawatu v Otago
5.00pm: Final: Waikato v Auckland A 

LIVE COVERAGE
The following matches will be screened LIVE on Sky Sport 1 on Wednesday September 21:

Graham Mourie Cup bronze final: Canterbury v Wellington, 1.40pm, Sky Sport 1
Michael Jones Trophy final: Bay of Plenty v Counties Manukau, 3.20pm, Sky Sport 1
Graham Mourie Cup final: Waikato v Auckland A, 5pm, Sky Sport 1