JOB FINALLY DONE IN NAPIER
A home semifinal continues to look a distinct possibility for Taranaki after they ended their longest provincial rugby losing streak at Napier on Saturday night following a comfortable 48-17 win over Hawke’s Bay.
While their final position on the Mitre 10 Cup premiership table will become a lot clearer after they’ve fronted Tasman and Canterbury in the next fortnight, Taranaki have moved up to second after North Harbour lost their unbeaten record on Saturday.
It had been 44 years since Taranaki won in Napier but it appeared fairly evident early on against an out of sorts Hawke’s Bay that they should bank maximum points.
They eventually did, although there was a brief period late in the first half when Hawke’s Bay threatened to be competitive.
However, Taranaki got the job done off the back of a dominant pack, a more organised defence and having more potent players in far better form than their hosts.
The fact Taranaki did it while changing more than a third of their side from the previous game was also positive with the only negative from the night a hamstring injury to halfback Kylem O’Donnnell who had made a decent impression in is first start of the season.
There were other positives to come out of the night, too.
Lineout variations were successfully introduced, a new locking combination appeared to bring more scrummaging power, openside Adrian Wyrill had his best game for the province while fellow loose forward Pita Sowakula’s continued to make progress by becoming more and more prominent.
‘‘We are progressing forward and we are where we want to be with our set piece and our defence which I think work well,’’ Taranaki coach Colin Cooper said.
‘‘We just have to work harder on our discipline and stop letting teams back in because of it. But overall we were happy to take five points away from McLean Park.’’
Cooper admitted he was frustrated at halftime given their 14-10 advantage did not reflect their dominance but he was pleased with the reaction he got from the players in the second 40 minutes.
They were also able to introduce teenagers Tom Florence and Ciarahn Matoe after the score blew out.
‘‘We did say a few hard words at halftime to get everyone back on the waka, so to speak, and they came back and stuck to what our game is and I’m pleased with the response.’’
Saturday night’s match also highlighted the fact that a number of players should be considered to start, although the calibre of the opposition must be questioned.
‘‘It will be interesting when we get back to see who does make the final 23 for Tasman.
‘‘We are already focussing on them and we are going to find out where this team really is when we take them on.’’
That match is on Thursday night at Yarrow Stadium.