Turbos farewell captain with win
Snuffing out a plucky Southland was non-negotiable for the Manawatu¯ Turbos as they staggered into 2019.
While they got there 38-26 on Sunday, it came at a cost because they won’t have to further negotiate with captain Antonio Kiri Kiri nor first five-eighth Jade Te Rure.
They are off to English seconddivision club Yorkshire Carnegie in Leeds for two seasons.
So Kiri Kiri’s Turbos career has ended after 62 games across seven seasons, leaving a void at loose forward and captain. ‘‘I think I’ve exhausted my opportunities in New Zealand,’’ he said.
Te Rure, 25, said he wants more game time and overseas experience. Two knee injuries ruined the 2015-16 stint he had in Scotland with Edinburgh. He has played 34 games for Manawatu¯ since his 2013 debut.
Meanwhile, coach Jeremy Cotter would probably have bolted had his Turbos, boosted by three All Blacks, lost to Southland. But they got win No 3 of the season by scoring five tries to four and Cotter will almost certainly put himself through the mill for a sixth season, his fourth as head coach.
He has a year left on his contract, the Manawatu¯ board willing with review outcomes and inquisitions pending. Cotter though stressed the biggest examination will be his personal self review.
But things will be sure to change next season, from recruiting and player retention to specialist coaching.
The maladies of 2018 have been hard to stomach for Turbos fans and were still there against Southland.
‘‘It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it when your team is struggling,’’ said Cotter. ‘‘We needed the win just to show we were not dead and buried. It wasn’t an energetic display, but it was enough.’’
Kiri Kiri saw it as a game of who could get down the other end with the ball and his charge-down try skewered Southland. ‘‘If we had lost it wouldn’t have been a very positive summer. It was very important for the community as a whole.’’
Indeed. The fear was that the Turbos might race to the jinxed score of 17-0, as they had against Hawke’s Bay before dissolving and earning another nuclear rebuke from the coach.
Instead, 14-0 became 14-all and jittery Turbos fans groaned. It felt like Napier all over again, especially when 21-14 became 21-all after Southland fullback Lewis Ormond scored untouched. Also as at Mclean Park, a try was belatedly scrubbed out, to Junior Laloifi, when referee Paul Williams had second thoughts, correctly.
Lock Liam Mitchell disrupted the lineout takes of Southland’s former Tu Toa lock Manaaki Selby-rickit, whose horror spill from the opening kickoff gifted Jackson Hemopo a try after 81 seconds.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen would have marvelled at the work Hemopo got through singlehandedly at times.
Manawatu¯ couldn’t get through their phase play the way the Stags did, otherwise All Black No 2 Nehe Milner-skudder might have been more employed.
By contrast, All Black No 3 Ngani Laumape, unused at Napier, was in constant combat, even if the Turbos often couldn’t get him bunting at full noise. But he was an ace finisher for his two tries, the first off Milnerskudder’s dash and offload, the second off another pinpoint grubber from master match manager Otere Black.
The slickest try of the season came when Nick Crosswell put Laumape into a hole for Kiri Kiri to dot down.
Southland were better than their 21 straight losses, aside from botching two tries and James Wilson’s touchfinder blunders. Their second-five, Cantabrian Ray Nu’u, was a game-long handful.
The Turbos again had a fractured defensive line ,which even Liam Mitchell’s cousin, prop Morgan, bolted through.
Manawatu¯ had enough individual class and grunt to get it done, but much was the same old – wasted moves, slow breakdowns, turnovers, passes to thin air, precious ball hoofed and tackles missed. Nothing that can’t be fixed in a year. Oh, and they won with a bonus point, the first for scoring four tries since beating Waikato on day one.