Otago 18 Taranaki 15
KEY POINTS:
Any win is a good win for the troubled Otago rugby team these days.
And their 18-15 Air NZ Cup success over Taranaki in atrocious conditions in New Plymouth tonight was particularly good.
Not for reasons of appearance, but simply because it came on the back of honest graft against a tenacious home side notoriously difficult to roll on their home patch.
It came on the back of a spirited revival in the second half from their forwards, who had traipsed off a sodden ground at halftime 5-12 in arrears.
Conditions dictated that this match was never going to rise above the ordinary.
Torrential rain before the game left the playing surface soaked, making handling and ball retention tricky propositions.
Otago were particularly poorly served in those areas in the first half as four penalties from Taranaki fullback Scott Ireland more than matched the visitors' lone try.
That was scored by winger Karne Hesketh in the 10th minute when he showed strength and determination near the line following a fine offload from centre Aaron Bancroft.
Otago coach Steve Martin's halftime pep talk seemingly worked wonders, because his side came out after the break with their intensity raised several notches.
That urgency was rewarded almost immediately upon the resumption when second five-eighth Callum Bruce made an initial break, openside flanker Alando Soakai followed up by making easy metres up the middle and blindside flanker Adam Thomson loomed on his shoulder to score beside the goalposts.
That left Charlie Hore an easy conversion, which was just as well because the first five-eighth kicked poorly throughout, landing just two of six attempts.
He and Ireland traded penalties to leave the game delicately poised at 15-15 with 30 minutes remaining, after which the Otago forwards slowly began earning an ascendancy so crucial to the final outcome.
In the end, the difference came in the 72nd minute when Otago were awarded another penalty, and this time the ball was thrown to Bruce, who made no mistake with his only attempt.
It was Otago's second win from four matches while Taranaki were left with one win from as many outings.
Otago 18 (Karne Hesketh, Adam Thomson tries; Charlie Hore pen, con, Callum Bruce pen) Taranaki 15 (Scott Ireland 5 pen). Halftime: 5-12.
- NZPA
