Taranaki 30
Manawatu 19
A tense local derby played in awful conditions - it was no surprise it boiled down to a couple of critical moments.
For 70 minutes the outcome was in the balance. There was nothing between the two on the scoreboard and no feel for which, if any, may have had more in the tank or the killer punch lurking.
And then, almost out of the blue, Taranaki won an unlikely turnover thanks to Lachlan Boshier and they put Latu Vaeno in at the corner. That didn't quite kill off Manawatu, but a deadly lineout drive four minutes later did.
Taranaki played their way deep into Manawatu territory, took a clean ball in the middle and then Rhys Marshall was able to burrow over.