Otago defend Ranfurly Shield against North Harbour as Liam Coltman, Dylan Pledger and Cameron Millar shine

Saturday, 27 September 2025

At Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin: Otago 41 (Dylan Pledger (2) tries 2min, 61min, Christian Lio-Willie try 29min, Liam Coltman try 38min, Lucas Casey try 57min; Cameron Millar 5 con, 2 pen) North Harbour 26 (Ben Brownlee try 12min, Mark Tele’a try 18min, Sofai Notoa-Tipo try 71min, Tom Barham try 73min; Cameron Howell 3 con). HT: 21-14

The Ranfurly Shield will spend the summer in Otago after the resurgent province’s young and and not-so-young stars combined to beat North Harbour on Saturday.

Brilliant young halfback Dylan Pledger grabbed two tries, No 10 Cameron Millar collected a 16-point haul off the boot and old bull Liam Coltman delivered a huge shift off the bench in his 100th game - including a trademark maul try.

Otago burst out the blocks with a try after just two minutes as Pledger finished off a midfield break from Sam Gilbert.

However, any thoughts that they were in for comfortable afternoon were quickly put to bed by a fired-up Harbour side.

The visitors have a had a tough NPC campaign, but they threw themselves into contact and won most of the collisions in the first 30 minutes.

They replied with a well-deserved try to midfield Ben Brownlee and attacked with a degree of ambition that belied their lowly place on the NPC ladder.

Former All Blacks winger Mark Tele’a, wearing the No 13 jersey, was used at every opportunity by the visitors and he scored in the 18th minute.

Tele’a perfectly picked off an intercept pass from Pledger with a bold defensive read and raced 50 metres to score under sticks - making up for a error that led to Otago’s opening try.

However, Otago were dominant at scrum time and gradually worked their way into the game.

Coltman was a big part of that.

The veteran hooker replaced the injured Henry Bell after just 12 minutes and powered over from a lineout drive just before halftime to give Otago the lead after Christian Lio-Willie had earlier drawn them level.

It was a popular try for the Otago fans and good reward for the 35-year, who is the first player to have played 100 games for Otago and 100 for the Highlanders.

Harbour were not yet done. They weathered a spell under pressure at the start of the second half and shored up their scrum by injecting experienced props James Lay and Sione Mafileo.

But Otago then struck twice through their rising stars Lucas Casey and Pledger to give the home side a crucial 21-point buffer.

Casey showed his speed down the left edge in the 57th minute following excellent work by Thomas Umaga-Jensen and Jona Nareki, before Pledger’s next piece of magic.

The halfback’s second try showcased his remarkable speed as he chased Jae Broomfield’s chip-kick to outpace the covering defenders and get the ball down in the in-goal.

Harbour responded with two late tries but Millar, who was seven from seven off the tee, nailed two late penalties to keep them at arm’s length.

The bonus-point win also vaults Otago to the top of ladder, with Canterbury set to play Northland on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Wellington remain outside the playoffs after a 39-20 loss to Taranaki in New Plymouth on Saturday.

Taranaki No 10 Josh Jacomb was instrumental as the home side scored three unanswered tries in a 10-minute burst at the start of the second half.

The bonus-point win pushes Taranaki into third on the ladder ahead of their final round-robin game against Canterbury in Christchurch next weekend.

AT A GLANCE

Taranaki 39 (Bradley Slater, Kaylum Boshier, Jesse Parete, Logan Crowley tries, penalty try; Jacomb 3 con, 2 pen) Wellington 20 (Dominic Ropeti, Callum Harkin tries; Jackson Garden-Bachop 2 con, 2 pen). HT: 11-6