Hapless Stags overpowered
Tasman powered to the top of the Mitre 10 Cup standings after heaping yet more misery on the hapless Southland Stags.
The Mako belted the Stags 45-24 at Lansdowne Park in Blenheim yesterday afternoon, extending Southland’s losing streak to 12 matches.
It’s quickly closing in on two years since the Invercargill-based team won a match, against Northland on October 8, 2016.
But while the Stags sit last in the championship section, Tasman’s bonus point win backed up their 25-17 win against reigning champions Canterbury last week.
Their nine competition points are matched by unbeaten North Harbour, who they play in Auckland on Saturday, but Tasman sit on top due to a superior points differential (+29).
The sight of fullback Will Jordan, a former Christchurch Boys’ High School star, scoring two tries in a man-of-the-match performance will have pleased more than just Tasman coach Leon MacDonald.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson will no doubt be enthused to see him back playing, given he missed his entire rookie season with the franchise due to concussion.
Jordan’s second try, a scorching 80m effort which included a chip and chase on his own 22m, was easily the pick of the day’s tries.
Boasting eight Super Rugby players in their starting side, Tasman certainly didn’t have it all their way against the plucky Southlanders.
First-year Stags coach Dave Hewett has no doubt got them showing more spine than in recent years, which was evident by their defence, and the way they combated the hosts at the breakdown, in the first half.
Despite doing a mountain of defending, they took a surprise 12-7 lead 30 minutes into the match, after first-five James Wilson freed his arms in a tackle and put hooker Flynn Thomas in for a nicely worked try.
However, with prop Morgan Mitchell ruled out for the rest of the match with a shoulder injury, their lead quickly went out the window.
First, impressive Chiefs outside back Solomon Alaimalo touched down out wide to knot the game up, before Crusaders lock Quinten Strange powered over the line, albeit with a helping hand from flanker Ethan Blackadder.
At 19-12 at the split it was still game on. But it didn’t stay one for long.
Jordan went through a gaping hole to full stop a sustained passage of play inside the 22m, before Blackadder’s pick-and-go try made it 33-12 after 50 minutes.
Reserve Sione Havili chalked up Tasman’s sixth try on the day to make it 40-12, while Manaaki Selby-Rickit and Rory van Vugt scored consolation tries for Southland inside the final 10 minutes.
With three more Super Rugby players on their bench, including prop Wyatt Crockett, Super players scored six of Tasman’s seven five-pointers,
Outscored 151-35 in their past three matches against Tasman, Southland must next weekend travel to Wellington to play the dangerous Lions.
Tasman 45