Tasman charge into play-offs
Tasman secured a quarter-final berth in the Air New Zealand Cup with a 36-7 demolition of Manawatu in their final round robin match in Palmerston North on Saturday.
Tasman secured a quarter-final berth in the Air New Zealand Cup with a 36-7 demolition of Manawatu in their final round robin match in Palmerston North on Saturday.
Needing a bonus-point win to remove Taranaki from the top eight, it looked like a bridge too far for troubled Tasman whose future in the tournament next year remains unclear because of the on-going discord between founding sub-unions Marlborough and Nelson Bays.
With the win, Tasman moved to 23 points, equal with Taranaki, but overtake them because they beat Taranaki 33-23 in the third round.
They trailed 5-7 at half-time as bottom-placed Manawatu, playing a fund-raiser for team-mate Aaron Cruden who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, seemed set for an unlikely upset.
Manawatu opened the scoring in the sixth minute when full-back Francisco Bosch kicked ahead on his own 10m line and good chasing and a fortuitous bounce led to wing Andre Taylor gathering and off-loading to fellow wing Lote Raikabula who dotted down for his seventh try of the competition.
Matty James converted from close range and the Turbos were looking good early on.
Tasman were a shadow of the side that troubled Wellington in their Ranfurly Shield challenge last week as they struggled to break a dogged Manawatu defence down.
Manawatu gave up territory in favour of possession, keeping play tight when they had the ball.
Five minutes from the break, Tasman finally got on the board through wing Blair Cook. Full-back Robbie Malneek sliced through and Tasman recycled possession with hooker Daniel Perrin surging down the short side and setting up the try for Cook which Miah Nikora could not convert from the sideline.
Having got a wake up call from coach Todd Blackadder, Tasman stormed home after the break with five well-taken tries.
Two came while Manawatu's Johnny Leota was spending time in the sin-bin after being shown the yellow card for a dangerous tackle.
Soon after Leota was sin-binned Tasman exploited the backline gap for wing Afeleki Pelenise to score wide out and give his team a 10-7 lead.
As a winded Manawatu defence finally crumbled, Pelenise had a free run for his second try that gave Tasman their crucial bonus point following Nikora's try in the 57th minute that saw the Makos pivot side-step his way over the line
Crashing runs and well-timed passing had Malneek scoring the fifth try under the crossbar and wing-cum-centre Kade Poki the sixth. Captain Andrew Goodman converted both to complete the scoring.
The scorers:
For Manawatu:
Try: Raikabula
Con: James
For Tasman:
Tries: Pelenise 2, Cook, Nikora, Malneek, Poki
Cons: Goodman 3
Manawatu: 15 Francisco Bosch, 14 Lote Raikabula, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Francis Bryant, 11 Andre Taylor, 10 Matty James, 9 Stephen Treleavan, 8 Hamish Gosling, 7 Doug Tietjens, 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Adaam Ross, 4 Hayden Triggs, 3 David Te Moana, 2 Sean O'Connor, 1 Grant Polson.
Replacements: 16 Rob Foreman, 17 Ma'afu Fia, 18 Paul Rodgers, 19 Mitchell Crosswell, 20 Joggie Viljoen, 21 Tomasi Cama, 22 Kurt Baker.
Tasman: 15 Robbie Malneek, 14 Blair Cook, 13 Kade Poki, 12 Andrew Goodman (c), 11 Afeleki Pelenise, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i; 8 Mark Bright, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Jack Lam, 5 Alex Ainley, 4 Will Crutchley, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Daniel Perrin, 1 Ben May.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Tristan Moran, 18 Joe Wheeler, 19 Daniel Hyatt, 20 Lualua Vailoaloa, 21 James Marshall, 22 Mike Pehi.
Referee: Keith Brown
TMO: Chris Pollock