Counties Manukau inflict defeat on Canterbury to make semisSKY SPORT Counties Manakau have beaten table-toppers Canterbury with a bonus point win to force themselves into the NPC playoffs. Counties Manukau have secured themselves a spot in the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership semifinals for the first time since 2013 with a stunning 33-21 win over Canterbury on Saturday. Protosport Hika Elliott started his first game of the season for Counties Manukau on Saturday. But the second half Counties came to life with four more tries and Canterbury looked far from being the red hot favourites to be New Zealand provincial champions. Counties Manukau 33 (2 Tony Pulu, Pauliasi Manu, Cardiff Vaega, Richard Judd tries; Piers Francis con, Luteru Laulala 3 cons), Canterbury 21 (Daniel Lienert-Brown, Nathan Earle tries; Jordie Barrett 3 pens, con).

Source: Stuff October 15, 2016 03:20 UTC