Taranaki aim for capital hat-trick
There was a time when you could rule a line through Taranaki’s chances of ever winning a national provincial competition rugby match in Wellington. It just did not happen. That changed in 2014, the year Taranaki were crowned national champions and won for the first time in the capital since the NPC was introduced, and it was backed up again last year when the side headed south and returned 54-31 victors.
The monkey is well and truly off their backs, not that Taranaki coach Colin Cooper ever saw it on.
‘‘We don’t think about that,’’ he insisted. ‘‘We just look at what they can bring and keep looking at our game and how we can get it better.’’
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Getting Taranaki’s game better from where it was seven days prior in their 34-29 win over Waikato in week one will undoubtedly start with winning their lineouts, concentrating more on defence and improving their option taking overall.
If they can do that then they will have enough firepower to win the Mitre 10 Cup crossover match at Westpac Stadium.
If they don’t then they will come under increasing pressure from a Wellington side that still has a fair bit of quality about it.
‘‘They have lots of threats,’’ Cooper added. ‘‘Especially out wide while they have a young, energised pack but we’ve had a good look at what they will bring and how we will defend that.’’
Wellington do have potential match winners out wide in the form of former All Black Julian Savea and Ben Lam but you have to question the form the pair are in.
Taranaki, meanwhile, can boost a host of attacking threats of their own with a backline that Waikato struggled to contain.
There is also the certain matter of having All Blacks wing Waisake Naholo on the bench ready to be brought on and most Taranaki fans will be hoping it is sooner rather than later given the potential he has on a dry Wellington afternoon.
What Taranaki must be mindful of is building a lead and putting Wellington under pressure in the right end of the field.
Do that and there is enough inexperience in their ranks for poor decisions to be made.
‘‘We still have to keep our structure,’’ Cooper said.
‘‘We know we have the x-factor and I don’t want to clip the wings of some of the players but we have to still keep that structure.
‘‘We drifted away from that against Waikato so that’s been an important message.’’
Cooper has opted to play two specialist openside flankers in Adrian Wyrill and Lachlan Boshier but they would not necessarily just play left or right accord- ing to the coach.
‘‘They can on the scrum but they have different roles in the lineout and if they are fatigued one can always swap.’’
Hurricanes hooker Ricky Riccitelli is set to make his Taranaki debut.