The Hawke’s Bay winger put in a deft chip over the top, regathered and ran in to score to complete a 34-10 win over Otago in Napier on Saturday.
It was the touch of class Otago was missing. And it means the Ranfurly Shield will stay in Hawke’s Bay for at least another two weeks.
The challenger was unable to turn territory into points or find a little magic when needed.
Coach Tom Donnelly had mixed feelings about the performance.
‘‘I was really happy with the first half. We had a lot of opportunities and probably missed a couple,’’ he said.
‘‘But there were just too many mistakes in the second half, particularly in our own area, and [we were] really slow at the breakdown which allowed them to get back into the game, really.
‘‘When we can play with speed like we did in the first half, we are really dangerous.’’
Otago opened the scoring midway through the first half when centre Freedom Vahaakolo burst on to a nicely delayed pass by Kayne Hammington.
He went in untouched, but a lot of hard work had gone on to create the opportunity.
The visiting side almost nabbed a second moments later. Vilimoni Koroi stepped his opponent and got the pass off to fullback Sam Gilbert.
Gilbert was focused on the corner but was cut down in a nice covering tackle.
Vahaakolo set off on another promising dash to the line but was also pulled down.
Then, against the run of play, Neria Fomai scored in the corner for Hawke’s Bay.
He got a tip pass from Lincoln McClutchie, got on the outside of the defence and cut back in to get over.
Hawke’s Bay had barely spent any time in Otago’s 22m but did not seem to need to in order to score.
Centre Stacey Ili put in a clever grubber from outside the 22m and fullback Lolagi Visinia beat team-mate Fomai to the ball to help double the lead.
Otago had enjoyed 70% of the territory in the first half but trailed 14-7.
An early penalty trimmed the lead to four and Dylan Nel made a save at the other end.
The No8 won a crucial turnover when Hawke’s Bay was setting itself for a driving maul.
Ash Dixon, who was a late scratching with an illness, is usually the key man in that scenario.
The veteran hooker was certainly missed. But in his absence the backs had a chance at glory, and Ili delivered.
He slipped through a soft tackle by Viliami Fine to score. There was nothing Otago could have done about the next try, though.
It was a wonderful sweeping move which featured a lovely wide pass by Lowe, a strong run by Marino Mikaele-Tu’u and a determined finish by Josh Kaifa.
Kaifa used every inch he had to stretch out and ground the ball.
That was Otago done, really.
Lowe topped off a tremendous match with a late try.
