Turbos hold on to beat spirited Stags as Emery strikes late
Manawatu have provided their semifinal hopes with a boost through a bonus point 25-20 win but they had to fend off a spirited Southland outfit to do it.
Manawatu headed into the Mitre 10 Cup Championship fixture at short odds to topple a Southland team who hadn’t posted a competition point through their first seven games in 2017.
The odds shortened further after a blistering opening few minutes before Southland found their grove and provided their fans in Invercargill at Rugby Park with hope.
Remarkably for the second game in a row Southland conceded two tries in the first three minutes of the fixture.
It was Tasman last Sunday who inflicted the pain and it was Manawatu hooker Tom Crozier who started it in this particular game.
Inside the first minute Southland halfback Jay Renton had a kick charged down which eventually led to a 5m lineout. From the lineout drive, Crozier found himself over the try line to make it 5-0.
Just a matter of two minutes later Manawatu were in again, this time with a long-range effort.
From inside their 22m, Manawatu shifted the ball and with a simple draw and pass they had the Southland defence stretched. It was Nathan Tudreu who found himself in the clear and on the end of the chain to score.
Jade Te Rure was again unsuccessful with the conversion which limited the damage just a little for the Stags.
After just three minutes it looked bleak for Southland, very bleak.
However, that was it for Manawatu as far as scoring went in the first half.
Despite the horror first three minutes Southland were able to dominate territory for the remainder of the half.
First five-eighth Scott Eade had the opportunity to post the Stags’ first points in the 19th minute but pushed a penalty attempt wide.
However seven minutes later Southland did score when lock Manaaki Selby-Rickit got the ball from close.
He had plenty to do to get within striking distance and stretch out to plant the ball down for a try.
Selby-Rickit is a former Manawatu Rugby Union academy member and the reaction following the try indicated it meant plenty to him.
The Eade conversion reduced the margin to 10-7 which it remained through to halftime.
Five minutes into the second half Eade was able to level the scores up at 10-10, but it didn’t last long as Te Rure responded with a penalty of his own for Manawatu just a couple of minutes later.
The two teams then went about trading tries, the first to Manawatu’s replacement halfback Kayne Hammington in the 55th minute, followed by Southland replacement lock Bill Fukofuka’s try six minutes later.
The conversion from Eade got Southland within three at 20-17 with 17 minutes to play. With eight minutes on the clock, Eade then levelled the scores at 20-20 with a penalty to set up the tense finish.
Manawatu second five-eighth Jason Emery broke the deadlock with six minutes to play when he smacked onto a short ball close to a ruck and bust his way past the defence to head in to score.
It pushed it out to 25-20 and Manawatu were able to fend off a late Southland attack to cling onto the bonus point victory.
Manawatu will now head back to Palmerston North where they will play Counties Manukau on Thursday night.