Taranaki outmuscle flimsy Manawatu
Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:55
Thanks to a sound forwards effort, Taranaki overcame Manawatu 14-3 in torrid playing conditions, in their round seven Air New Zealand (NZ) Cup clash in New Plymouth on Thursday.
Two late first-half tries was enough to see Taranaki win a somewhat uninspiring encounter at Yarrow stadium.
With both teams holding up the bottom order of the tournament standings prior to this seventh round match, the poor rugby spectacle wasn't helped either by sporadic bouts of rain and a slippery ball.
What ensued was a forward-based contest, with a tactical kicking battle between Taranaki flyhalf Willie Ripia and his opposite number, Manawatu's Matty James.
Ripia had the edge in the first half behind a strong forward effort, while James got his side on the front foot after the break - allowing Manawatu to spend long periods on attack.
However, the Manawatu backline was often guilty of drifting sideways, while both of Taranaki's tries were well executed by their back division.
With the hosts 14-0 up at half-time, they were clearly determined not to squander their advantage after letting the same lead slip in last weekend's nail-biting loss to Hawke's Bay.
Hurricanes members Ripia, lock Jason Eaton and flank Scott Waldrom - were all influential, with the pick and go used to good effect in difficult conditions.
Their defensive efforts was also impressive against opponents lacking attacking flare.
Manawatu remain without a win since the first round, and it would be a major surprise if they went on to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since their re-admittance to the first division in 2006.
Taranaki pressure eventually paid off in the 29th minute when wing Shayne Austin opened the scoring following several phases on the Manawatu try-line.
Paul Perez looked like scoring on the outside before throwing an inside pass to Austin, backing up to score in the right corner.
Five minutes later saw back-to-back tries, as impressive centre Jayden Hayward burst through onto a pass after quick hands from Ripia and Waldrom, to score under the crossbar.
Long periods of Manawatu territorial domination in the third quarter resulted in a lone 51st-minute penalty to James.
Frustrations came to a head with 15min remaining, when Taranaki captain Tony Penn and Manawatu flank Doug Tietjens traded blows - resulting in both being sent to the sin-bin.
A 14-a-side game however didn't seem to open up the contest, with the heaviest rain of the night falling in the closing stages.
Scorers:
For Taranaki:
Tries: Austin, Hayward
Cons: Ripia 2
For Manawatu:
Pen: James
Teams:
Taranaki: 15 Asalemo Malo, 14 Nathan Hohaia, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Jayden
Hayward, 11 Shayne Austin, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Brett Goodin, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Chris Walker, 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 Nemia Soqeta, 20 Brendan Haami, 21 Corey Niwa, 22 Jack Cameron.
Manawatu: 15 Kurt Baker, 14 Aaron James, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Frankie Bryant, 11 Lote Raikabula, 10 Matty James, 9 Aaron Good, 8 Hamish Gosling, 7 Josh Bradnock (captain), 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 James Goode, 3 David Te Moana, 2 Rob Foreman, 1 Grant Polson. Replacements: 16 Sean O'Connor, 17 Talau Hala, 18 Doug Tietjens, 19 Paul Rodgers, 20 Isaac Thompson, 21 Junior Tomasi Cama, 22 Francisco Bosch.
Referee: Kelvin Deaker
Touch judges: Ben Skeen, Peter Boyden
