Tasman Makos march into final
The Tasman Makos are now just one win away from another significant slice of New Zealand rugby history.
A Marty Banks try right on fulltime has booked Tasman a ticket into next Saturday’s Mitre 10 Cup premiership rugby final after a dramatic 41-29 semifinal win over Taranaki in New Plymouth on Sunday.
Despite playing with a broken finger at Yarrow Stadium, the Tasman first five-eighth made another massive contribution with a personal 21-point haul as the Makos now prepare to head to Christchurch next weekend to take on defending champions Canterbury in the premiership final.
It will be Tasman’s second final appearance in three seasons after losing to Taranaki in New Plymouth in 2014. But Tasman held on under some intense pressure on Sunday to end Taranaki’s season, with Banks’ try hammering the final nail into Taranaki’s coffin.
Tasman head coach Leon MacDonald was understandably elated with his team’s performance.
‘‘I thought it was outstanding and I thought our lead at halftime reflected that. We were opening them up really well on attack and we chanced our arm,’’ MacDonald said.
‘‘We knew we had to come here and take them on because they’re such a physical team and we did that really well in the second half when they got their tails up they were really hard to stop.’’
There was never any question that, despite trailing 31-12 at one stage, Taranaki would claw their way back into the contest.
‘‘With the laws at the breakdown, it’s hard to get the ball back sometimes and when [Taranaki] were way behind, they just started running it out of their own half and they got good reward there and opened us up a few times.’’
‘‘They’ve got massive firepower right across their team but we worked really hard, the boys were tired and just ground it out to the very end. The muted celebrations at the end just showed how exhausted we were.’’
Both teams finished with five tries, with Banks’ boot ultimately making the difference.
Taranaki opened the scoring after just three minutes when a long miss pass by first five-eighth Marty McKenzie eventually created space for midfielder Seta Tamanivalu to finish out wide.
However, Tasman steadily built some momentum to return the pressure with a Marty Banks penalty after 13 minutes offering some tangible reward. And when tighthead prop Ross Geldenhuys crashed over minutes later after some excellent interpassing, Tasman were suddenly ahead 10-5.
Tasman earned a reprieve when winger Declan O’Donnell knocked on in a mad scramble on the line after 23 minutes. Then nine minutes before the break, midfielder Johnny Faauli muscled over after a series of drives at the line to help put Taranaki back in front.
Tasman wouldn’t be denied though as superb work by their backs saw them cross for two late tries, the first to impressive second five Alex Nankivell after he’d sparked a counter-attack and the second to fullback Mitchell Hunt after a clever kick and chase play by winger James Lowe, for a 24-12
(Ross Geldenhuys, Alex Nankivell, Mitchell Hunt, Billy Guyton, Marty Banks tries, Marty Banks 5 con, 2 pen) (Seta Tamanivalu, Johnny Faauli, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Declan O’Donnell, Mitchell Crosswell tries, Marty McKenzie 2 con) HT: 24-12 halftime lead. After absorbing early first half pressure, Tasman began to build in confidence as they continued to take the attack to Taranaki, Nankivell and halfback Billy Guyton sparking much of their play.
It didn’t take Tasman long to turn the screws after the restart, Guyton eventually crashing between the posts after 16 phases to push the visitors out to a staggering 31-12 lead.
But just when Tasman appeared to be taking control, some smart work between Taranaki hooker Rhys Marshall and halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi from a lineout saw the No 9 cross in the corner, McKenzie’s excellent sideline conversion reducing Tasman’s lead to 31-19.
While a second Banks penalty pushed Tasman out to 34-19, an increasingly desperate Taranaki team began to throw everything into attack. O’Donnell eventually cashed in out wide to cut the margin to 10 points with around 15 minutes remaining.
And when Taranaki captain and flanker Mitchell Crosswell crossed with just nine minutes left, McKenzie missing the difficult angled conversion, Tasman’s lead was reduced to just five points. Then Banks struck, breaking Yarrow Stadium hearts.