Mooloos: Win Ranfurly Shield
Waikato ripped the Ranfurly Shield from Taranaki's grasp after thumping their hosts 46-10 at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth on Wednesday.
The Amber and Blacks, firm favourites to hold on to the Log O'Wood for the second consecutive season, were no match for the Mooloos who outscored the home side seven tries to one with wing Tim Mikkelson bagging a hat-trick.
The crucial victory for Waikato (their fourth win from eight games) lifts last year's finalists from a three-way relegation battle with Bay of Plenty and Hawke's Bay - leaving them five points outside the top four.
The Mooloos will have to see off the challenge of Hawke's Bay next weekend to ensure the Shield stays in Hamilton and have a clash in Pukekohe against the impressive Steelers this weekend as they fight to stay in the top division.
Taranaki will try and bounce back as they look to advance through the finals, with their final regular season fixtures coming against Southland and Wellington.
The scorers:
For Taranaki:
Try: Gibson-Park
Con: Climo
Pen: Climo
For Waikato:
Tries: Cummings-Toone, Bradley, Christie, Mikkelson 3, Renata
Cons: Renata 4
Pens: Renata
Taranaki: 15 Kurt Baker, 14 Andre Taylor, 13 Willie Rickards, 12 Jayden Hayward, 11 Frazier Climo, 10 James Marshall, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Blade Thomson/Kane Barrett, 7 Chris Walker, 6 Jarrad Hoeata, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Craig Clarke (capt), 3 Michael Bent, 2 Laurence Corlett, 1 Chris King.
Replacements: 16 Timo Tutavaha, 17 Carl Carmichael, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Kane Barrett/Blade Thomson, 20 Bernie Hall, 21 Brett Goodin, 22 Jack Cameron.
Waikato: 15 Trent Renata,14 Declan O'Donnell, 13 Save Tokula, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Tim Mikkelson, 10 Sam Christie, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Alex Bradley (c), 7 Zak Hohneck, 6 Matt Vant Leven, 5 Sam Kilgour, 4 Romana Graham, 3 Ben May, 2 Marcel Cummings-Toone, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Vance Elliott, 17 Latu Talakai, 18 Anthony Wise, 19 Rory Grice, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Piers Francis, 22 Joe Webber.
Comments
melkdave says...
I suppose it was bound to happen eventually.One thing is for sure Taranaki have defended the shield with alot of pride and passion .I was secretly hoping that they just might hold onto it all season .Such a shame their run ended with their worst performance so far this season .If it had to end far better in a blaze of glory and fireworks ,but alas not to be .
Posted 17:36 03rd October 2012
passtheball says...
Expect the unexpected when Ferdie and Mooloo meet. Now they need to sober up and face Counties on Saturday and then defend the log against HB.
Hats off to Capt Bayley who leads from the front - an old fashioned type of player- with all the right values on and off the field.
Posted 13:02 03rd October 2012
bk47 says...
You always know a shield run has to come to an end but for it to end with THAT performance...very disappointing naki! We put up absolutely no fight whatsoever in any facet of the game. Congrates Waikato, you totally deserved the win and the shield.
Naki will have to move on from here and focus getting into the playoffs. I'd hate to be the boys this week at training. Coopers going to kick their arses!
Posted 12:29 03rd October 2012
Ferdie says...
I missed the game - having seen the score think i was lucky! Well done Waikato there can be no arguing with a final scoreline like that, and no excuses as both sides have gone through the wringer with the three games in eight days ITM schedule.
Just a memory now for Taranaki - win this one and we'd have had Ranfurly Shield till next year - however it's been a great 12-13 months since taking it from Southland, and again it has proven that in the provinces at least the RS remains the best way to boost crowd numbers.
Next focus has to be those last two games hope they don't crash and burn now and miss out on a semifinal as well.
Congrats Waikato.
Posted 10:42 03rd October 2012