Taranaki sneak past Manawatu
TARANAKI found a bonus-point win late at a rain-soaked Yarrow Stadium to beat Manawatu 30-19 in their Mitre 10 Cup crossover match yesterday.
Having only picked up one five-pointer this season, the win, even though it was ugly, helped Taranaki stay with the leaders in the premiership.
There were few bright spots and Taranaki only found them late after it looked for a long time like Manawatu might grab their second big scalp of the week after they beat Canterbury last round.
The fact they didn’t was down to Taranaki’s dogged approach more than anything else.
The first half was as gloomy as the weather as both sides struggled in slippery conditions. GETTY IMAGES
Manawatu took a 16-15 lead into the break, largely off the boot of Otere Black who landed three penalties and converted Ambrose Curtis’ try.
Taranaki, on the other hand, reverted to driving the ball forward whenever they could.
They picked up two tries from that tactic, the first to young prop Reuben O’Neill and the second to halfback Kylem O’Donnell who found the blindside vacant after he whipped the ball away from a maul that was heading to the line.
There was a lot of kicking, with most of it coming from the base of the Taranaki ruck. Their problem was their defensive line then failed to realign when Manawatu countered.
The only other real talking point from the half was the fact Manawatu No 8 Heiden BedwellCurtis somehow went unpunished after he landed a a swinging shot on the nose of Taranaki captain Marty McKenzie.
Despite it being right in front of referee Brett Johnson, the man with the whistle opted to let it go.
The start to the second half was equally as stodgy as Taranaki’s option-taking continued to cause puzzlement as they took the wrong one repeatedly, allowing Manawatu’s swarming defence to suffocate them far too easily.
When they weren’t doing that they were turning down shots at goal, despite being only a point behind, then not finding touch from the kick for the corner. When they did take the shot the usually reliable McKenzie was astray.