Whanganui master the mud in King Country victory
Photos by Blake Davison
I’m the first to clock in and the last to leave
And I ain’t never had a problem rolling up my sleeves
I woke up this morning
Tied my boots up
Cause I knew it was gonna be a long day
Cause I’m working,
Til it’s hurting
That’s only way to make an honest day’s pay
- Workin’, SMO, 2014
By Jared Smith
The Sir Colin Meads Memorial Trophy was in no danger of leaving Cooks Gardens as Steelform Whanganui provided a composed performance to run out 41-3 winners over King Country on Saturday.
The irony will not be lost on the playing group that after preparing for a wet weather track in their Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship opener in Greymouth, they were greeted with pleasant conditions, while a week later their first home game was played on a mud heap.
It was not conducive to the style of rugby Whanganui want to play, but the coaching staff will be very pleased the squad just rolled their sleeves up and got to work – showing good ball retention, solid defence, and a strong set piece.
This was all the more impressive considering they had to play just under 30 minutes with 14 players, as No8 Semi Vodosese was given a red card on touch judge advice after the very uncharacteristic swinging of a punch, which didn’t connect, in a ruck on Whanganui’s 10m nearing the 20th minute.
It was a shame for the young loose forward, who was playing his blazer game after 15 caps, an honour he shared with reserves Jack Yarrall and Josiah Bogileka.
Under current rules, Whanganui were able to return to 15 players after 20 minutes, although after halftime they also lost hard-running midfielder Jim Seruwalu to the sinbin for a professional foul when he got trapped with the ball in front of his own posts.
But King Country could not capitalise on their advantage, surprisingly struggling in the conditions more than the home side did, with their backs in particular all at sea at times with mistimed passes and defenders slipping over and missing their targets on two of Whanganui’s first half tries.
Without Vodosese, loose forwards Ben Whale, Jamie Hughes and reserve Samu Kubunavanua carried the added load well, the latter also covering in the backline briefly without Seruwalu, while the front row of try-scorer Roman Tutauha and props Tai Pulemagafa and Gabriel Hakaraia mixed their hard carries with short offloads to keep the defence guessing.
Heavy mud means pressure from tactical kicking becomes paramount, and try-scoring fullback Ezra Malo, staying in the role when Tyler Rogers-Holden withdrew, was outstanding with some great kick recoveries and attacking darts, working with winger Alekesio Vakarorogo.
Halfback Lindsay Horrocks did a bit of everything with his kicks, sharp passes and tryline defence, while once again, Whanganui got a big lift from their bench in the final quarter – none more so than Ethan Robinson who is getting back to his best after two tries and two conversions.
Whanganui staying steady under adversity proved decisive, as King Country ultimately made too many errors to be competitive.
“Just capitalising on those mistakes is where we were able to get the momentum, and just keep rolling really,” said captain Dane Whale.
“We’ve been guilty of quite a few handling errors and I actually felt like today we remedied that.
“It’ll be interesting to see the stats, because I felt like we held onto the ball when we needed to.
“A couple of dodgy turnovers, which I probably thought could have gone either way, but you’re always going to get it.”
Coach Jason Hamlin was happy that the work they had done on the areas of concern at the breakdown, under the eye of Peter Rowe, had paid off.
“We didn’t quite get it all the time, but it was close. Keeping them tryless – really happy about that, because they could have buttoned off.
“The ability to bring people on in that [last] 20, the crucial period of the game, and end the game – we’re hitting the mark there at the moment.”
Vodosese will now have a trip to the judiciary, but Hamlin and his staff will review the match footage to see if throwing the punch was a reaction to foul play.
“We’ll have to look at it and see if there’s a case to be made [for appeal], but whatever it is, we have to deal with it, and get our players to be better than that – if it is a retaliation thing.
“The basic skill stuff, by and large, we did really well. One day, we’re going to have a really hard, dry surface, and we’re going to click. Hope that’s sooner not later.”
An early penalty to King Country allowed their accurate first-five Quinn Collard to open the scoring in the fourth minute, but Whanganui had a swift reply as the visitors infringed at the breakdown, with Malo nailing the equaliser.
A missed King Country lineout throw was snatched up by Whanganui lock Matt Ashworth to give Whanganui an attacking chance, and after sustained buildup, Horrocks fired a long pass to Malo, who kept his balance getting through the cover tacklers to dive in at the corner, and then slot the difficult conversion.
Whale and Vakarorogo sparked a halfway counterattack from a King Country clearance, and then Hughes hit centre Kameli Kuruyabaki coming into the gap, and he in turn fed the veteran Tutauha to show great toe to hold off his pursuers and score a crucial try for a 14-man team.
Right on halftime, Kuruyabaki again cut through and defenders slipped trying to reach him, which proved fatal as the dove under the posts for 22-3 at oranges.
Being reduced to 14 again meant Whanganui had to absorb a lot of pressure on their line, but the forwards responded to clear the dangerzone, and then after getting a penalty to shift back onto attack, the home side ran on their fresh legs, including debutants Bradley Fountain and Caleb Gray.
The impact was immediate, as Whanganui drove from a lineout and then transferred the ball to both sides, before Whale fired it to Robinson who crashed through two tacklers to score, before slotting the kick.
A Robinson 50-20 kick had Whanganui in position again, with Fountain earning his stripes with three solid carries during the movement, before a penalty let them set an attacking scrum.
The returned Seruwalu had a crack at the line, as did Ben Whale, before the ball again came out for Robinson to dive over beside the posts with five minutes remaining.
Whanganui still weren’t done, as nearing fulltime Bogileka went for a long run into King Country’s 22m, and then the forwards swiftly recycled for reserve prop Keightley Watson to score his first Heartland try.
Whanganui 41 (E Robinson 2, E Malo, R Tutauha, K Kuruyabaki, K Watson tries; Malo pen, 2 con, Robinson 2 con) bt King Country 3 (Q Collard pen). HT: 22-3.
