“[Wairarapa] had all the ball and all the territory for the first 25 [minutes], we just had a real slow start.
“That’s the big talking point for this week [at training]. She was just all tempo from there.”
Whanganui scored back-to-back right before halftime to put their noses in front 19-17, and then ran in three more converted tries in the second stanza.
“The carries through the middle created the space out wide,” said Nepia, singling out forwards Becky Manu and Waimarie Rauhina.
Wingers Alice Ireton and Paris Munro both scored doubles, with Ireton slotting the conversions for a 20-point haul, while in-form centre Brooklyn Walker and flanker Anahera Hamahona, like Munro, dotted down for the second game in a row.
Similar to the win over the King Country Trailblazers when Whanganui scored two tries in the last 90 seconds from inside their own half, Wairarapa, after their strong start, were likewise unable to keep up with Whanganui’s speed later in the piece.
“Talking to their coach Scotty Collins, he said they gassed out pretty quick,” said Nepia.
“It’s something we’ve tried to work on - being the 80-minute team.
“But it was the accuracy as well, our accuracy was better than last week. Looked after the ball a lot more.”
The only concern for the side was the rolled ankle of reserve Te Amorangi Karaitiana.
Whanganui welcomed back 2022 Player of the Year Riana Tamati to run the cutter at first five-eighths, and in an emotional moment, front rower Lavenia Nauga-Grey came off the bench for a solid 25-minute shift - her first rugby since being temporarily paralysed last year against the Thames Valley Vixens.
The Wairarapa-Bush team made a special acknowledgement to Nauga-Grey after the game.
Sitting top of the table as the only unbeaten team, next up for Whanganui is a home game - but on the eastern side of the union’s catchment at Taihape’s Memorial Park, facing Poverty Bay’s Turanga Wāhine.
The visitors won 31-15 against the Vixens and lost 32-15 to King Country last weekend.
“They’ve got a big team from what we’ve seen on film - they like to carry,” said Nepia.
“We hope to move them around, wide pods, then find holes.
“Just got to sort that start out, that first 20 minutes.”
The opportunity to play on their home ground in Whanganui colours would be a big thrill for the Taihape squad members Walker, Trissina Hooper, Georgia Adams and Tayla Barrett.
