Country cohesion trumps Town in rep trial
By Jared Smith
Experience and home turf knowledge told in the Steelform Whanganui representative trial at Memorial Park on Saturday as a more cohesive Country ran away with a big 50-20 win over Town.
Guided by the fresh Taihape play-makers, who had a week’s break after missing out on the WRFU Premier Final at Cooks Gardens, Country also had a slightly larger squad, as not every invited Town player made the trip – ultimately about 45 out of the original 61 selected took part.
As expected in a four-quarters game with a lot of unfamiliar combinations, the match saw a lot of individual commitment but not too much continuity – with some mistimed passes, fumbles, and ruck penalties inevitable.
But eventually, Country took control, especially in the fourth quarter as the scoreline blew out – with Dane Whale and Tyler Rogers-Holden able to fire confident cut out passes, while Kameli Kuruyabaki, who was their former clubmate in between stints in the Manawatu, has not lost a step.
Running with the ball in one hand, Colin ‘Pinetree’ Meads style, Ben Whale powered his way over for a hat-trick of tries.
Town had a lot of the young Marist and Kaierau players, so there was a plenty of speed but not as much setting up for repeat phases or adjusting in the moment, which is what Country’s veterans excel at.
Three of Town’s four tries came from players from the champion Border team – second-five Andy Hamilton having a strong match.
Flanker Cade Robinson made some big line carries, although the backline would have missed the steady influence of Josaia Bogileka after he sustained a back injury early.
Another concern was the stinger for incumbent Whanganui captain Campbell Hart, who came off for Country before halftime and stayed on the sideline.
Other strong performers for Country were prop Gabriel Hakaraia and flanker Joeli Tora, both scoring tries and making some powerful runs.
“The Town team were a little bit disadvantaged because they had young boys, like young Rangi [Kui], when Ethan [Robinson] pulled out,” said Whanganui coach Jason Caskey.
“You’ve got Dillon Adrole and Ezra Malo, you haven’t got guys who are good communicators and talkers – you see the difference with Dane and Luke Whale, Tyler, plenty of guys doing a lot of talking.
“But they hung in and battled away, some good things, but probably one team had a lot more direction.
“Some good intent. The defence, especially in the first 40, was pretty good, putting pressure on, but it started breaking up a bit in the end.
“That’s what you want – good intent – you’re not going to see too much structure in a game where they had one training and not all of them could make training, so pretty happy we’ve what we’ve seen.”
Ultimately, with more representative levels available this year without the disruption of Covid-19, Caskey and his fellow selectors plan to take around 26 for the Heartland Championship squad,
They will likely carry a few extra in the first two weeks of pre-season, starting with Taranaki Development XV in Hawera this coming Saturday, then a Hawke’s Bay camp to meet the Saracens.
The coach said they may also look at having a couple of young apprentice players – one forward and one back.
“You get too many guys, they start to get a bit down in the mouth if you can’t give them game time.
“In 2019, we lost the first three games, so you’ve got no leeway to do that, you’re under the pump the whole way.”
Pressuring the breakdown and Town’s passing channels, Country controlled territory early and were rewarded when Dane Whale pulled a switch play from a 5m scrum with big ‘Jim’ Timoci Seruwalu reaching over his tacklers to plant the ball – Whale taking a quick drop-kick conversion, but it was decided to flag attempting extras to allow more time for the ball in play.
There was no further scoring in the first quarter, and then Town replied when Malo swept down the far touchline and found Nick Harding inside to score, before Country regained a lead they would never relinquish as Ben Whale sent Roman Tutauha charging at the line, stopped just short, and Utiku Senior player Mark Coogan secured the ball to score.
A Kuruyabaki burst set Country loose again, and although Town deliberately knocked the ball down, they regained it for Ben Whale to fend his way through before halftime.
Country then began to stamp their mark against tiring opposition, as they drove from a penalty lineout to put Tora over, then after Town lost possession running out of their half, Kuruyabaki cut through the broken defensive line and fired a long ball for Rogers-Holden to race away.
Cade Robinson appeared to have scored but Town were pulled back for a fumble at the previous phase, yet they stayed on attack, spreading to both sides, and eventually Andy Hamilton found the angle to dash through for a try to reward his good effort.
Ben Whale and Tora combined to attack Town’s blindside following a kick return, with Kuruyabaki stepping his way back towards the posts, where Hadlee Hay-Horton arrived to power across on three-quarter time.
With some players tiring and others still fresh from rotation, the gaps opened in the final 20 minutes, as Country winger Ioane Hough-Aki made a long run down the sideline, with Kuruyabaki again in support to work back to the centre, finding Rogers-Holden, who was stopped and left it to Hakaraia to dive over.
At 35-10, Town didn’t quit, as after Cade Robinson made a couple of hit-ups, they spread the ball and Harding found Kui inside for the young speedster to dash away.
But like Hough-Aki, another transplanted Marist player stepped up for Country as Jack Yarrall ripped back possession in Town’s half and bumped off two defenders, allowing his team to fire a wide pass, where Rogers-Holden set up Hough-Aki to score.
The Whale’s were now ruthless as both Dane and Ben ran Town’s clearances back hard, with Ben charging from near halfway to beat the cover defence and score.
Country gave Town one gift when they fumbled an overthrown lineout ball into Kieran Hussey’s hands, as he dashed from the 22m to the tryline, but Ben Whale had the final say as he took a tapped penalty and smashed straight through the last defender for his hat trick.
Country 50 (Ben Whale 3, Timoci Seruwalu, Mark Coogan, Joeli Tora, Tyler Rodgers-Holden, Hadlee Hay-Horton, Gabriel Hakaraia, Ioane Hough-Aki tries) bt Town 20 (Nick Harding, Andy Hamilton, Rangi Kui, Kieran Hussey tries).
QT: 7-0.
HT: 15-5.
3/4T: 30-10.
HAPPENINGS
JUNIOR REP: The Whanganui Under 14 team had real competition at the Heartland Development Camp in Taupo last week. On Tuesday, Whanganui defeated Poverty Bay 25-7 and East Coast 29-7. On Wednesday they took on hosts King Country and lost 34-5.
COLLEGIATE: The Whanganui Collegiate 1st XV’s resumption of the CNI tournament did not go well with a 30-12 loss to second place St Paul’s Collegiate in Hamilton on Saturday. Defeat leaves Collegiate in fourth spot but still five points clear of the chasing pack, with their last round-robin game against Feilding High this Saturday.
TARANAKI: Former Steelform Whanganui and Border winger Vereniki Tikoisolomone made it two wins in six days at Cooks Gardens as his new Taranaki Bulls team beat the Wellington Lions 24-14 in their NPC preseason game on Friday. Fellow Whanganui expat Stephen Perofeta was at fullback, scoring a try he also converted.
MANAWATU: Whanganui expat Hollyrae Mete-Renata was in the Manawatu Cyclones side that made a great start to the Farah Palmer Cup with a 48-5 win over Taranaki at CET Arena on Saturday. Meanwhile there were many Whanganui connections in the Manawatu Turbos who played a Game-of-Three-Halves with Auckland and Waikato in Taupo. Former All Black Brett Cameron, Ben Strang, Jason Myers, and Griffin Culver all played, while recent Samoan international Tietie Tuimauga was rested.
NAHOLO: Whanganui’s former winger and 27-test All Black Waisake Naholo has signed to play for Canterbury in the upcoming NPC competition. Naholo returned to New Zealand to play club rugby in Dunedin after injury and the Covid-19 epidemic limited his appearances for London Irish to four games in two seasons.
