Same old mistakes cost the Turbos

The same mistakes that have peppered the Turbos’ 2016 season were on full display against Taranaki in New Plymouth on Saturday.

Manawatu lost the game 30-19 in persistent rain, but the match was marred by a refereeing blunder on fulltime which cost the Turbos an all-important bonus point.

But regardless of the non-call for captain Callum Gibbins’ try, Manawatu’s loss was mainly due to self-inflicted errors.

Nine missed tackles, 11 handling errors, 19 turnovers conceded and four lost lineouts were major factors in the loss.

They were all areas that were stabilised in the win over Canterbury the week before, but popped up too often against Taranaki.

The lineouts had the Turbos under the most pressure. They lost three of their first four throws and that gave Taranaki important possession and heaped more pressure on Manawatu.

Taranaki had their lineout working like a well-oiled machine.

Coach Jeremy Cotter predicted earlier in the week Taranaki would turn to the maul often.

He was bang on, but yet the players on the park seemed clueless how to stop the drives.

Taranaki’s maul, directly or indirectly, lead to three tries and ultimately the winning of the game.

‘‘We knew they were strong in set piece and we knew they were strong at the maul, pick and go and the muscle up forward stuff and they did pretty well on the day,’’ Cotter said.

Handling mistakes and trying to spread the ball in the wet also hurt the Turbos.

‘‘For a long period of the game, we were in it. But we were just guilty at the end of trying to play too much. Little things make a difference.

‘‘I am not saying we deserved to win the game. I don’t think we did, I don’t think we played well enough and I think Taranaki handled the conditions better than us.’’

A positive for Manawatu was their dominant scrum considering how Canterbury had bullied them.

With the stability at set piece, Manawatu was able to launch an impressive Rhys Archibalddesigned backline move to create an overlap for Ambrose Curtis to score in the corner.

Heiden Bedwell-curtis, Otere Black, Gibbins and Harrison Brewer all had strong games, while Chris Eves and Jamie Booth added important impact off the bench.

Now Manawatu must recover for its final four games, including three at home, probably needing two wins to guarantee a semifinal berth.

Players who have had heavy schedules may be rested.