Resurgent Mooloos move up the tiers
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:54
Waikato are back to winning ways after a wobbly start to their Air New Zealand (NZ) Cup season, beating Counties-Manukau 20-15 in Hamilton on Sunday, and surge into sixth position on the competition log.
The Mooloos have revived their play-off ambitions thanks to two consecutive wins (over reigning champions Auckland and now Counties) and four bonus points picked up along the way.
Sunday's victory was however far from convincing, as Waikato struggled to retain possession - a failing that would have been exposed by stronger opponents.
But it was enough to down Counties-Manukau, who fell to their fifth successive defeat.
Fielding a new-look starting XV this week, Waikato made an immediate impact when a counter-attack from Dwayne Sweeney ended with right wing James Kamana making a 40-metre run to the try-line.
Callum Bruce's successful conversion put Waikato 7-0 ahead after just two minutes, which they extended to 12-0 in the 19th minute.
Prop Aled de Malmanche scored after new flank Matt Blain won turnover ball, before turning the Counties-Manukau defence around.
The Mooloo men then made heavy work of the remainder of the first half, giving a penalty to Counties fullback Tim Nanai-Williams leaving the hosts 12-3 in front at the half-time break.
With a breeze at their backs in the second half, Waikato briefly threatened to steal home when Kamana crossed for his second try, before Counties-Manukau showed some startling creativity in the space of two minutes.
Firstly, Siale Piutau crossed the try-line after a stab kick from Tasesa Lavea bounced just right for him, then Sherwin Stowers scored in the left-hand corner when a high kick fell the way of teammate Rupeni Nasiga.
Suddenly Waikato's advantage had been closed down to 17-15 and the contest came alive again, though both teams seemed spent of tries.
A restless Waikato Stadium crowd put pressure on Bruce who missed two penalty attempts, before finally slotting his third effort seven minutes from full-time.
Scorers:
For Waikato:
Tries: Kamana 2, De Malmanche
Con: Bruce
Pen: Bruce
For Counties-Manukau:
Tries: Piutau, Stowers
Con: Nanai-Williams
Pen: Nanai-Williams
Teams:
Waikato: 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 James Kamana, 13 Dwayne Sweeney, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Tim Mikkelson, 10 Trent Renata, 9 Josh Sutherland, 8 Faifili Levave, 7 Matt Blain, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Kent Fife, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Toby Smith, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Aled de Malmanche.
Replacements: 16 Vern Kamo, 17 Josh Hohneck, 18 Kevin O'Neill, 19 Jordan Smiler, 20 Tom Harding, 21 David Bason, 22 Roimata Hansell-Pune.
Counties
Manukau: 15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Niva Ta'auso, 12 Tasesa Lavea (captain), 11 Siale Piutau, 10 Tanner Vili, 9 Samisoni Fisilau, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 DJ Forbes, 6 Rupeni Nasiga, 5 Andrew Van der Heijden, 4 Jamie Chipman, 3 Tuaefe Palelei, 2 Lance Po-ching, 1 Simon Lemalu/Jayden Murch.
Replacements: 16 Ilaisa Maasi, 17 Simon Lemalu/Jayden Murch, 18 Viliami Fihaki, 19 Gary Saifoloi/Mark Selwyn, 20 Kevin Farrell, 21 Sherwin Stowers/David Raikuna, 22 Romi Ropati
Referee: Brent Murray
TMO: Steve Walsh
