League: WaiCoa Bay Stallions stumble at Domain

WaiCoa Bay Stallions fullback Malcolme Noda makes a half break. Photo / Andrew Warner

The WaiCoa Bay Stallions side that turned up to play Canterbury Bulls at Tauranga Domain on Saturday was vastly different to the outfit that beat Counties Manukau Stingrays 18-8 on the opening weekend of the NZRL National Premiership a week earlier.

The tone was set as early as the first play when Hayden Karena (Hamilton City Tigers) failed to collect the Bulls' kickoff. From the resulting field position, second rower James Baxendale crashed onto a pass to go over for the first points of the game.

It was a pattern that was to be repeated twice in the first half - a Stallions mistake followed by a Bulls try, but not before the Stallions had restored parity. A Nick Read (Hamilton City Tigers) break had seen fullback Malcolme Noda (Taniwharau) pulled down, but Jeremy Suilepa (Pacific Sharks) went over on the next play.

However, defensive errors under the high ball and lost balls from low-percentage plays saw Erwin Sauni poach two tries to take the Bulls to a commanding 18-6 lead as halftime approached.

The promise of a fightback with a try to Noda from a long cutout pass by Victor Karora-Reu (Pacific Sharks) was quickly nullified, Sauni pouncing on a loose ball to complete a first-half hat-trick.

Head coach Tony Lajpold said the error rate was talked about at halftime when the home side trailed 24-10.

Despite further unforced errors, the Stallions shored up their defence, holding opposition players up over the line on several occasions, with the only Bulls try coming from Nathan Saumalu.

Lajpold was heartened by the defensive effort: "In the first half they scored three times off our errors, but in the second half we held them out for three sets [of six] and when they scored they earned it - but there weren't many [tries] they did [earn]."

At 28-10, the Stallions finished the stronger with Otumoetai Eels centre Josh Tupou going over after an offload by Queensland Under-18 rep Keanu Dawson (Ngaruawahia Panthers) and a flick-on from Karena. Tupou was in the action again moments later, making a strong break down the right to feed Noda on the inside, who ran in to finish the try scoring, Karena converting to make it 28-20.

"The last try shows they can play footie when they want to, but sometimes it's about being smart," said the coach.

"But last week, compared to this week, they were totally different."