Mustangs must wait and hope
The Manawatu¯ Mustangs’ destiny is now in the hands of Wellington and Taranaki.
The Mustangs beat Taranaki 30-26 in a close tussle on Saturday in Oakura, a week after losing to Wellington.
That means to get through to the next round of the national championships, the Mustangs rely on Taranaki to roll Wellington by six points or less this weekend.
‘‘We’ve still got a slim chance, but we’ll just see what happens,’’ said Mustangs coach Haze Rewiti.
The Mustangs’ performance in Taranaki showed guts.
Because of player unavailability, Manawatu¯ had just three reserves, including Rewiti. He’s no mug, having played for the Mustangs in past seasons, but due to injuries this was only the second time he’s made it on to the paddock this year, after also filling in for his club Whanganui Boxon.
Rewiti came on early in the second half at lock. ‘‘The lungs were a bit battered, but it was good fun.’’
After narrowly losing to Wellington 28-26 last week, this time it was the Mustangs who managed to hold on for the win. Manawatu¯ started the match strongly, but Taranaki never let them get away and, again, the final few minutes proved crucial.
‘‘A bit of fatigue crept into our game through having a short bench and halfa-player on to cover,’’ Rewiti said, joking about his own cameo.
‘‘We dug deep and the boys did well to get us home.’’
Second-rower Tautahi Rawiri had a standout match, scoring a try and slotting home all five conversion attempts.
‘‘His running game was awesome. He got us out of trouble a lot of times,’’ Rewiti said.
Centres Jordan Davis and Nikolao Ioane also had strong games. Both dotted down for tries, as did fullback Emitai Logadraudrau and standoff Shadow Wiriori.
‘‘It was a fast game. Even going into it with a short bench we were still confident we would get the win,’’ Rewiti said.
Even if they don’t progress in the national champs, the Mustangs still have a match against Tauranga rep team Coastline at Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North, on September 8. Kickoff is at 3pm.