Taranaki win late in the wind and wet
A last-minute lunge to the tryline by hooker Ricky Riccitelli was enough for Taranaki to sneak a 30-27 Mitre 10 Cup win in miserable conditions at Yarrow Stadium last night.
For a significant part of the second half it appeared Counties Manukau had done enough to earn an upset win, despite playing into a strong wind, before Riccitelli was awarded a try to give Taranaki the lead.
However, the home crowd were made to wait a couple of minutes for the win to be confirmed after referee Angus Mabey went to the television match official to double check his original decision.
In the end it stood, although there appeared to be no certainty it would.
Counties Manukau were dealt a blow before the match even started when co-captain Augustine Pulu was ruled out, replaced by Jonathan Taumateine.
Pulu’s absence, combined with Stephen Donald and Tim Nanai-Williams sitting on the bench because of niggly injuries, meant Counties Manukau started with an inexperienced backline.
That put a lot of pressure on first five-eighth Baden Kerr to play in the right areas, especially given the conditions and the fact the visitors were playing with a strong wind at their backs in the first half.
It was Kerr who opened the scoring with a penalty after Counties Manukau were afforded a generous call from Mabey for illegal crossing.
While Taranaki were making most of the play, and drew level, it was Counties Manukau who crossed first through wing Tevita Nabura after some poor kicking options by Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and Waisake Naholo left the home side’s defence stretched.
It was Taranaki who continued to look the more threatening for the majority of the opening half but their continued desire to push passes, instead of showing the required patience, meant they were unable to convert anything they created.
That was until they finally stretched Counties Manukau to put Naholo in the clear and give themselves a narrow 11-10 lead at the break. In a way it was what they deserved, although it summed up Counties Manukau’s inability to punish those repeated mistakes.
Counties Manukau would also have been disappointed they did not get enough possession in that first 40 minutes to take advantage of the wind at their backs.
Not that it mattered to them at the start of the second half as they finally made Taranaki pay for some more indifferent play when they scored early through Taumateine to snatch back the lead.
Taranaki’s attempts to get it back were repeatedly thwarted by the same issues that plagued them in the first half and they were again made to pay when Counties Manukau crossed again to open up a 24-11 lead. That advantage was short-lived when Taranaki struck back before another good period by Counties Manukau saw them extend their advantage off Kerr’s boot to nine points.
Naholo then grabbed his second with 10 to play which proved enough to swing the momentum.