With Border’s veteran flankers Kieran Hussey and Angus Middleton able to get in and needle Taihape, who were caught for a mixture of going off their feet and not releasing, they offered too many opportunities for the brains trust of Craig Clare and Lindsay Horrocks to put the home side back into their own corners.
Back snarling in the front row due to Hamish Mellow having a work injury, Ranato Tikoisolomone was strong on the carry, while fellow prop Emmanuelle Wineera impressed with a crucial carry in the second half when Taihape had rallied.
Playing a bit of catch-up rugby, Taihape got back to their systems by the final quarter when the gap had closed to 27-20 - Border desperate on their own tryline, holding back the men in pink by inches.
Taihape were wearing special pink commemorative jerseys to celebrate Women in Rugby - an auction was held in the clubrooms after the match, with part of the proceeds going towards improvements of the children’s playground beside Memorial Park.
Led by try-scoring hooker Luke Whale, redeeming his earlier yellow card, brother and No 8 Ben Whale and some incisive attacks from winger Ryan Karatau and reserve back Tiari Mumby, Taihape began to get traction and therefore some shine from the whistle.
But you need perfect handling under pressure to beat Border, and two key lapses midway through the second half proved fatal to their aspirations.
Border’s potent midfielders Silo Waqalevu and Alekesio Vakarorogo only need the door to be slightly ajar and they’ll kick it open.
A miscommunication between Taihape’s backs saw the ball spilled with a collision and the two Fijians swooped to set up Clare, dotting down under the posts for an easier conversion after a few prior misses.
Shortly afterwards, a pinpoint cross kick from Horrocks took an unpredictable high bounce away from the Taihape sweepers, and again Border’s numbers 12 and 13 were right there to dot down.
That 12-point burst was enough, but what pleased Border’s coaching staff the most was even when they gambled on subbing off the influential Clare and Middleton, the latter having taken a few hard licks, as well as the Symes brothers in try-scorer Harry and Tom, the bench players still did their part in a tough final 15 minutes, when Taihape still had most of their key players on the field.
The Hay-Hortons - Peter-Travis, Slade and try-scorer Hadlee - carried hard all match, while skipper Matt Brown was able to disrupt a few lineouts.
Yet Border’s reserves withstood the maelstrom, and even got back down the far end for replacement first five Nick Harding to slot a late penalty to deny the hosts even a bonus point.
Youngster Luke Myers looks like a good hand for the future, while it was the 100th game for long-time servant Dylan Amon.
“Definitely physical, wasn’t it? We knew it was going to be a good acid test for us today, we knew they were pushing for a home semifinal as well,” said coach Todd Cowan.
“Very happy with the result, any win over Taihape is always good.”
Cowan was delighted to be in the situation where he could remove Clare and Middleton at a pivotal time and still pull clear on the scoreboard.
“It’s good to be able to put some of those younger guys off the bench and into a game where there’s a bit of intensity and physicality because we know, coming to the tail end of the season, real big games like that, it’s good to give everyone exposure to that sort of intensity.
“Taihape have been one of the most consistent sides for the last five, six seasons, so most definitely they’ve got a pretty good team, and we were lucky today to get the win, it could have gone either way.”
Taihape coach Sefo Bourke, still determined to get his side through to a third consecutive Premier final, knows they have a bit of work to do in the final weeks.
“I thought in the first half we started off really, really well, and then that scuffle broke out and we lost Lukey to the bin, and they capitalised on that and scored 12 points,” Bourke said.
“To be honest, I thought that try that they got off of one of our mistakes was probably the difference in the end.
“Other than that, when we hang in there with them, I actually think we’re the better team.
“We need to go back and watch the tape and just reset. Obviously the penalty count was against us and that was a big, big part of the game that didn’t go well for us.”
The side were still going to enjoy the evening, as the one-off pink jerseys were put up for a good cause.
“It was a massive day for the club, to auction off the jerseys. We tried to make sure that didn’t get into their heads too much, tried to keep it as normal as possible beforehand,” said Bourke.
“It’ll be awesome, be a good night, would have been better if we won, but that’s rugby.”
Border 30 (J Namosimalua 2, H Symes, C Clare, A Vakarorogo tries; N Harding pen, Clare con) bt Taihape 20 (T Rodgers-Holden, H Hay-Horton, L Whale tries; D Whale pen, con). HT: 15-12.
