Boshier steals Shield
Log o’ Wood on the move again thanks to a breakdown poacher and a booming boot
The Ranfurly Shield is heading north. As they did in 2017, Taranaki have snatched NPC rugby’s Log o’ Wood from Canterbury in Christchurch, with a late Jordie Barrett penalty sealing a 23-22 win..
Although Barrett’s late heroics sealed Saturday’s victory, it was Lachlan Boshier who was the difference. Taranaki’s openside flanker lived up to his billing as a menace at the breakdown, winning plenty of possession, none more important than his pilfer inside Taranaki’s 22 with two minutes left.
That play sealed the win for Taranaki, whose last three Shield reigns have been at the expense of Canterbury.
An early penalty off the boot of Barrett put the challengers ahead after three minutes, but it was the following 10 minutes that gave Taranaki fans reason to believe.
A piece of individual skill from young wing Jacob RatumaitavukiKneepkens saw him toe a loose ball forward, collect the bounce and scoot across for the opening try. He was followed over soon after by lock
Tupou Vaa’i, rewarded for backing up a break from Barrett.
Ahead 13-0 after 15 minutes, Taranaki had a superb start and defence backed it up.
Taranaki made it tough for Canterbury to get any fluidity in their attack, with Boshier making his presence felt.
A vintage play from Beauden Barrett put the stamp on the half for the challengers. The Taranaki No 10 got the ball deep in his own half, sized up the defence and launched through a gap. Leaving the defence in his wake, Barrett sent RatumaitavukiKneepkens away on the inside, who stood up Richie Mo’unga to score his second.
With Canterbury posting only a penalty from Mo’unga’s boot in the first half, they had all the work to do in the second.
To their credit, they came back strongly.
Starting with a try to prop Oli Jager from close range early in the half, the ever-constant possibility of a Canterbury comeback lingered. Taranaki began to show signs of fatigue around the 50-minute mark, with all their tackling and defensive work from the first half catching up with them.
Canterbury took advantage and, after tries to Mo’unga and Andrew Knewstubb, they took the lead inside the final 10 minutes.
However, they lost it just moments later when Jordie Barrett kicked a penalty from 50m out, and Taranaki were able to close out the win.
“There were certainly some nerves watching Canterbury come back and put us under pressure in that last 20 minutes,” said Taranaki coach Willie Rickards. “When you play a good team like Canterbury, you’re only going to get a couple of opportunities and you need to nail them. I was really grateful that, as a team, wewere really able to nail those big moments.”