Taranaki lock up Ranfurly Shield for summer

A 10-minute spell which started with a cynical foul by Manawatu prop Michael Ala’alatoa allowed Taranaki to pile on 19 unanswered points and retain the Ranfurly Shield in New Plymouth last night.

A rampant home side ran in three tries as Ala’alatoa sat in the sin-bin for a professional foul; playing the ball on the ground with his line under seige and that was the difference in a 46-25 win.

The win not only locks up the Shield for the summer but seals Taranaki’s place at the top of the Premiership table with a game in hand.

Waisake Naholo was sublime in his return to provincial rugby from All Blacks duty and was obviously playing at a different level to those around him. His one-handed take of 46 25 before halftime to complete a terrible 10 minutes.

The 10-minute tale was all the more obvious as Manawatu regained some parity in the second spell.

Replacement halfback James Booth, with a jink and dab off the ruck, scored early in the second half before local fans took special delight a few minutes later when Charlie Ngatai, on as a replacement for Wainui and resplendent in fluorescent yellow head gear, hit the attacking line at a perfect angle to further extend the lead to 34-11 as the hour approached.

Rangy winger Ambrose Curtis kept the Turbos’ hopes alive and further narrowed the gap. Manawatu got a glimmer of hope when Taranaki replacement winger Declan O’Donnell was sin-binned for a no-arms tackle off the ball on Jason Emery and the visitors showed their resilience with a try to replacement first-five Jade Te Rure, who pounced on a loose ball to narrow the deficit to nine points.

But the home side had learned the lesson of playing a man down and held tight before exploding towards the finish line with an acrobatic try to Kylem O’Donnell from a cross-field kick and a finishing burst from replacement loose forward Adrian Wyrill.

Taranaki 46

(Waisake Naholo 2, Seta Tamanivalu 2, Charlie Ngatai, Kylem O'Donnell, Adrian Wyrill tries; Marty McKenzie pen, 4 cons)

(James Booth, Ambrose Curtis, Jade Te Rure tries; Otere Black 2 pens, Te Rure 2 cons). Halftime: 27-6.

Manawatu 25