COSTLY ERRORS
Turbos should have won
The Manawatu¯ Turbos will focus on recovery ahead of their doubleheader next week, but not before some substantial tape study of their 29-24 loss to Counties Manukau on Thursday night.
Walking away with just one bonus point from a match where they looked to be the better team has dealt a serious blow to their chances of a home semifinal and means that their spot in the top four remains hanging in the balance.
The Turbos did manage to turn on two nominations for try of the season - and there would have been a third if one of the night’s best performers, Te Rangitira Waitokia, did not drop the ball with the tryline wide open.
It was a performance that offered so much promise, but it was ultimately Manawatu¯ mistakes that paved the way for Counties Manukau to claim the win.
The Turbos’ errors are becoming all too common with loose passing and midfield defence opening the door for three of four Steelers tries.
The try to Orbyn Leger after a Nigel Ah Wong break in the midfield on the stroke of halftime was particularly costly.
Counties Manukau’s second came after Newton Tudreu wildly fired a ball infield after a set piece play fell apart.
Manawatu¯ have persisted all season with their miracle offloads as they look to turn on expansive attacking rugby.
They will always lean towards taking risks, it has been ingrained in Manawatu rugby since Doug Rollerson graced the Showgrounds.
But this year they have been exposed for trying too hard to get passes away.
The thing about 50/50 passes is that by their very nature, they fail half the time.
Where the Turbos are falling down is the inability to make a split-second evaluation whether such a risk is worthy of being taken. Often promising movements have been ended by forced passes that let the opposition off the hook.
Coach Jeremy Cotter said the offloads were discussed at half time and would be reviewed ahead of their next game.
‘‘We need to tidy it up. We were offloading as a second option rather than working hard and earning the right to throw the offload,’’ he said.
It was not the tidy refereeing performance that should be expected of the country’s top referee in Glen Jackson.
Several replays shed no light on exactly what Antonio Kiri Kiri did to get yellow carded in the first half and there looked to be a suspect forward pass that was ignored in Ah Wong’s second half try.
But he did get the decision to red card Augustine Pulu spot on with the Counties Manukau halfback hitting Jade Te Rure in the chin with a reckless high shot.
Te Rangitira Waitokia stood out at fullback with his elusive running causing Counties Manukau all kinds of trouble.
His run to set up Tudreu’s try was simply sublime, as was his try-saving tackle on Tim Nanaiwilliams.
But dropping the ball with an open tryline in front of him in the second half appeared to affect his confidence with him rarely featuring after that.
Brice Henderson had a storming game at No 8 with some big carries and good work on defence. He has effectively locked up his starting jersey for the remainder of the season.
Jason Emery is starting to look back at his best on attack in the midfield.
However, there must be serious questions asked over the combination of Emery and Lewis Marshall on defence.
There were some gapping holes exposed with both men guilty of rushing up and leaving space.
Tudreu remains a mixed bag, but four tries in his last three matches is hard to argue with.
Halfback Jamie Booth and first five-eighth Jade Te Rure offered good impact off the bench.
Next week the Turbos face Taranaki in New Plymouth on Wednesday and Hawke’s Bay in Napier on Sunday. They need one win from those matches to ensure a semifinal spot and need both for a chance of a home semifinal.
They are likely to be without Fraser Armstrong for at least the Taranaki match after he was concussed in a head clash in the first half against Counties Manukau.