Turbos let another lead slip
The Manawatu¯ Turbos can’t keep letting teams off the hook this season.
Just like a week ago against Northland, Manawatu¯ looked great in the opening spell of their match against Otago at the Arena, Palmerston North, on Sunday, but slumped for large parts.
Otago won 36-25 after dominating the middle part of the match after Manawatu¯ had led 8-0 early and spent most of the opening 30 minutes hot on attack.
Manawatu¯ were held up across the line and Jamie Booth was unlucky not to score a try when the ball was raked from his arm with the line open after grabbing a cross-field kick.
But after weathering the storm, Otago broke out and scored two crucial tries to take the momentum and a 14-8 lead into halftime.
Otago scored three second-half tries, including two intercept tries, to lead 36-8 before Manawatu¯ scored three times in the last 15 minutes to snare a bonus point.
Auckland await Manawatu¯ in the city of sails this week and even if Auckland’s All Blacks have been pulled by the national selectors, the Turbos need to front for 80 minutes.
Turbos coach Peter Russell said with Auckland coming this week they needed to keep things simple.
‘‘I think we did enough in that first half, but in the second half two intercepts, that’s the difference.’’
He said when his players carried well they got through the Otago defenders, something No 8 Tyler Laubscher did when he came off the bench.
‘‘We’ve got to lose some skin to get some reward, so you’ve got to carry hard,’’ Russell said.
He wanted his side to be smarter with their lineout, which faltered against Otago.
Two of Otago’s dangermen were former Feilding High School outside backs Jona Nareki and Vilimoni Koroi, who scorched the Manawatu¯ backs.
Koroi scored two tries and could have had a third if not for a desperate tackle by Adam Boult.
Manawatu¯ created opportunities in the first half, with their backline making wide breaks, but couldn’t finish.
‘‘It’s one of those things you’ve got to keep learning from it,’’ Russell said. ‘‘Once we get points on the scoreboard, we don’t let them back in.
‘‘How do we control the game, and that’s not just our nines and 10s, that’s our set piece, restarts, playing territory, kick chase, all those things that probably let us down at times.’’
Destructive second five-eighth James Tofa was at the forefront for Manawatu¯, charging through the heart of Otago’s defence.
The high-energy Aaron Smith showed his class at halfback and he scored two second-half tries.
Lock Micaiah Torrance-reid was busy in the dark places and was rewarded with a late try.
Wellington loan flanker Shamus Hurley-langton looked good in his first game and was a threat at the breakdown.
The man he is covering for, Johnny Galloway, is still three or four weeks away from recovering from a calf injury.
Both Manawatu¯ and Auckland are likely to be without their All Blacks this weekend, with the All Blacks assembling for a training camp.
But Auckland, with their heavier All Blacks contingent, will be more affected than Manawatu¯, who would lose only Smith.