Whanganui moving up and over East Coast
By Jared Smith
Two clutch wins in a row and a home Meads Cup semifinal is suddenly back in the conversation for Steelform Whanganui after a rugged 40-24 win over Ngāti Porou East Coast at Cooks Gardens on Saturday.
Keeping skipper Dane Whale’s faith when he won the toss and opted to play into the influential breeze, Whanganui showed good control in the set-piece, lock Josh Lane winning plenty of ball in the air off both throws, and got momentum on the edges with their pick-and-go.
Hard-working No8 Doug Horrocks certainly earned the right to wear his new blazer in his 15th game, while prop Raymond Salu smashed his way over the advantage line in a big performance – one that extended longer than planned as he had to return in the second half after reserve Keightley Watson suffered another knee injury.
Other than Watson the aforementioned forwards are Kaierau men, the Whanganui team all wearing their club’s socks to celebrate Club Day, but the Border men certainly played their part as try-scoring machine Alekesio Vakarorogo added another try-double for his eighth of the campaign, with halfback Lindsay Horrocks setting one of them up and scoring a double of his own.
Vakarorogo’s second try came after two audacious flick passes from Horrocks and reserve flanker Samu Kubunavanua – earning Whanganui’s bonus point and taking them to a comfortable 29-3 lead entering the final quarter.
To this point, playing without inspirational halfback Sam Parkes, East Coast had looked like the team that lost 54-straight games over nearly a decade, but suddenly galvanised into action, they transformed back into the side which won the 2022 Lochore Cup and holds the Bill Osborne Taonga.
Hitting Whanganui hard at the advantage line and starting to get a few more penalties in their favour, the East Coast forwards through drove reserve front-rower Jaya More over and then second-five Tuetere Waenga broke tackles to score.
A third try off a quick tap, which led to a short melee in-goal between the heated teams, gave East Coast a sniff at 34-24 – veteran first-five Te Rangi Fraser slotting all four of his kicks in quick fashion.
But Whanganui had composure enough through Whale, as three times during East Coast’s rally the home side managed to trap them in the ruck trying to run out of their half – the skipper slotting two penalties in close range as well as going to the corner for fresh reserve hooker Alesana Tofa to score of a slick lineout play.
Whale finished with six kicks from nine attempts, but won’t mind one of his misses as the ball holding up in the breeze in the first half fell awkwardly near the posts for East Coast to spill it and Horrocks to score his first try.
“I really put it to the boys to play into that wind in the opening 40, when we won the toss, that’s what we were going to do,” said the skipper.
“Real proud of the boys to give us that base effort from that first 40 and then build into that for the second half.
“We knew we had a strong bench to come on. There was a little bit of heat from coming from [East Coast], and our penalty count was probably quite high for that second half.”
But unlike the Thames Valley loss, on the times when Whanganui got hit hard behind the advantage line, they had the bodies to protect the ball and get momentum going again down another fringe.
“I think the boys are finally picking the right options, they get us over that advantage line and then building that pressure so we either get a penalty or we’re playing out the back, so it is coming together,” said Whale.
While the final quarter was concerning, coach Jason Hamlin was pleased his team had prevented East Coast from playing their kind of rugby until it was ultimately too late.
“There’s a real emphasis for us around trying to contain them as much as we could around their pick-and-go game, I thought that’s where they’d be, and I thought that first 40-60 odd minutes the boys did that really well.
“I’m surprised it actually got out to that high a score, I didn’t think it was going to be that high-scoring of a fixture, but it was probably a credit to that work in the first half.
“A try off a kick chase, but you’ve got to put yourself in places to do it, and that try just before halftime via Alekesio was worth its weight in gold.”
Having leapfrogged East Coast into third place and now three points shy of second-place Thames Valley, Hamlin wants to iron-out any issues in the final two round-robin games where the Bruce Steel Memorial Cup will be on the line.
“We set our standards for these boys really high, and towards the end of the game we weren’t really meeting them, that was probably the disappointing factor, because this team can do a bit of damage if it gets itself together.”
Good momentum from the forwards into the wind in the opening exchanges set up a chance for Whale to put Whanganui ahead with a penalty after eight minutes, before pressure at ruck time saw the home side lose possession and then give up a penalty off the scrum – Fraser equalising after 22 minutes.
East Coast fumbling the kickoff gave Whanganui position, soon getting a penalty, and when Whale’s kick in front went too high and held up in the wind, it turned into an attacking bomb and Horrocks was their to swoop – Whale’s conversion from a more difficult angle was struck flatter and sailed through the sticks.
Vakarogo then set his team loose with a 40m dash down the touchline, Whanganui getting a penalty to gain further field position, and from the lineout, Vakarorogo slipped his tackle and then beat the last man on his angled run to slam the ball down, Whale slotting another good kick for 17-3 approaching the break.
Taking the wind while East Coast also had the afternoon sun in their faces, Whanganui earned a couple of penalties in good position, sticking with scrums, and after they drove close, Horrocks took it off the back and caught the defence out with a dummy to dangerman Vakarorogo before dashing on the angle to get the ball down in the tackle.
Bringing on their bench forwards, Whanganui made a break through reserve lock Peter Travis Hay-Horton, and the hosts set for Kubunavanua to fired a reverse pass out to winger Josaia Bogileka, who was stopped at the corner post, with Horrocks then running back on the angle and throwing a reverse flick of his own for Vakarorogo to just catch and put down in a highlight-reel score.
But an offside penalty gave East Coast a chance, and after Waenga and fullback Renata Roberts-Te Nana had a crack, the ball was recycled for More to be driven over beside the posts.
Initially, Whanganui were not phased as they trapped East Coast from the kickoff, went to touch, and a nifty lineout play saw Tofa get the ball back and sprint through the gap to dot down for 34-10 after 66 minutes.
But East Coast still had their blood up as Whanganui spilled the kickoff, then got a penalty to go to touch again, and after another succession of ruck recycles, Waenga burst through the middle to dive under the posts.
With veteran back Verdon Barlett now on, East Coast began to move the ball, getting a penalty in front of the posts, where a quick tap saw them dive through for another seven pointer.
Wanting to not only win but keep the visitors away from bonus points, Whanganui made a long restart and made East Coast fumble at the ruck, setting up a chance for winger Apolosi Tanoa to bust the line – with a penalty in front straight forward for Whale.
Again from the kickoff, Whanganui worked down into the attacking half, Tofa making a great run, and although the hosts missed an attacking lineout chance, they trapped East Coast again for another penalty on fulltime for Whale to slot.
Whanganui 40 (L Horrocks 2, A Vakarorogo 2, A Tofa tries; D Whale 3 pen, 3 con) bt East Coast 24 (J More, T Waenga, Unknown tries; T Fraser pen, 3 con). HT: 17-3.
2023 Heartland Championship Table
Provisional Table Correct as of 16/09/2023 – 4.31pm
| South Canterbury | ||||||||||
| Thames Valley | ||||||||||
| Steelform.Whanganui | ||||||||||
| Ngāti Porou East Coast | ||||||||||
| North Otago | ||||||||||
| Wairarapa Bush | ||||||||||
| West Coast | ||||||||||
| Mid Canterbury | ||||||||||
| King Country | ||||||||||
| Horowhenua-Kapiti | ||||||||||
| Poverty Bay | ||||||||||
| Buller | ||||||||||
| *TIEBREAKERS: 1. Head to head result. 2. Points differential. 3. Tries scored. 4. Points scored. 5. Coin toss. |
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