Manawatu stutter to win over Wanganui

WANGANUI - Manawatu might be in the new NPC rugby premier division next year but have a long way to go to be competitive if today's scrambling 17-6 victory over Wanganui is any indication.

Manawatu took 79 and three quarter minutes to score a try against a Wanganui side they outweighed by 80 kilograms in the forwards and despite the 11-point margin, could easily have lost the match.

It took No 8 Iliki Naikatini to break from a twisting scrum in the final seconds to put Manawatu out of reach.

In the eight minutes before that Wanganui had four times gone extremely close to scoring a try which would have put them ahead.

Manawatu forwards' were ponderous and the backs looked like they had only met each other the day before the match.

Before the last-minute try, only the goalkicking of halfback Jonathan Hargreaves allowed Manawatu to go to halftime 6-3 ahead and then lead 12-6.

Blindside flanker Hayden Triggs and hooker Nathan Kemp were the best of Manawatu's forwards but the backs failed to show any penetration against some fine defence.

Loose forward Peter Rowe and Andrew Evans and captain Mike Thompson shone in the Wanganui forward pack, with centre Jerry Meafau the best of the backs.

Their only points came via a penalty in each half to Lee Peina.

Scorers: Manawatu 17 (Iliki Naikatini try, Jonathon Hargreaves 3 pen, Graham Smith 1 pen) Wanganui 6 (Lee Peina 2 pen).

- NZPA