Taranaki put Northland to the sword
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:16
Taranaki centre Jonathan Spratt was the star of the show as he scored a hat-trick of tries to help his team to an impressive 39-21 bonus-point victory over Northland in a Friday Air New Zealand Cup fixture.
The match proved great value to the crowd at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth, with both sides showing good endeavour to play exciting rugby.
Northland were the first to score through scrumhalf James Rodley, who crossed the chalk after 16 minutes, but Taranaki hit right back four minutes later through wing Paul Perez.
Both flyhalves, Willie Ripia and David Holwell, seemed to be on song with the boot, but it was the home side that had the upper hand in this encounter.
A closely contested first half was turned on its head when Taranaki scored three tries in just seven minutes either side of the break to run away with the contest.
Welshman Spratt came to the fore near half-time, crossing the try-line to give his team an 18-16 lead at the break.
Taranaki built on that momentum early in the second period, when flank Scott Waldrom injected some pace into proceedings to break the Northland line. Spratt was again instrumental, receiving the pass from Waldrom, and shipping it onto Jack Cameron who went over for the try.
Inside centre Jayden Hayward set-up Spratt for his second try four minutes later, and suddenly the amber and blacks were enjoying a healthy lead.
But Northland were not going to concede that easily, and they hit back via wing Fetu Vainikolo, who received a neat pass from pivot Holwell and ran almost half the length of the field, breaking two tackles on his way to a spectacular try.
That score dragged the scoreline back to a 21-32 deficit for Northland, but their scoring for the night ended there, despite their best efforts.
The closing moments of the game saw the home side score once again through centre Spratt, who completed his trio of tries by pouncing on Northland's desperation to earn a loser's bonus point.
The visitors tried to run the ball from deep, but dropped a crucial pass, and Spratt mopped up for his third score on the night.
Scorers:
For Taranaki:
Tries: Perez, Spratt 3, Cameron
Cons: Ripia 4
Pens: Ripia 2
For Northland:
Tries: Rodley, Vainikolo
Cons: Holwell
Pens: Holwell 3
Teams:
Taranaki: 15 Aselemo Malo, 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 Nemia Soqeta, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Hamish Mitchell, 2 Laurence Corlett, 1 Tony Penn (captain).
Replacements: 16 James Annabell, 17 Shane Cleaver, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Chris Walker, 20 Brendan Hiini, 21 Corey Niwa, 22 Jack Cameron.
Northland: 15 Jared Payne, 14
Rene Ranger, 13 Aden Dewes, 12 Leo Taliu, 11 Fetu'u Vanikolo, 10 David Holwell, 9 James Rodley, 8 Blair Urlich, 7 Hamish Paterson, 6 Justin Collins (captain), 5 Martin Veale, 4 Daniel Goodwin, 3 Bronson Murray, 2 Tyler Ashworth, 1 Tevita Mailau.
Replacements: 16 Francis Smith, 17 Justin Davies, 18 Roy Griffin, 19 John Cocker, 20 Brenton Helleur, 21 Ashley Moeke, 22 Mike Davis.
Referee: Garratt Williamson
Television match official: Brent Murray
