Taranaki 29 Tasman 17
KEY POINTS:
Taranaki launched their Air New Zealand Cup rugby campaign by wearing down Tasman to win 29-17 in New Plymouth tonight.
Taranaki led 16-10 at halftime and were made to sweat for their success, which was not confirmed until the last quarter of a scrappy contest.
The match never attained memorable heights as a spectacle - a spate of handling errors and a slew of unforced mistakes saw to that.
But Tasman showed their tenacious qualities to frustrate the home side despite a dysfunctional lineout and encountering difficulty clearing the ball at ruck time against a physical Taranaki pack.
They were on the wrong side of the possession and territory ledgers but only trailed by six points at the break thanks to first five-eighth Tim Taylor, who scored all their first-half points with a converted try and conversion.
His try in the 22nd minute moved Tasman 10-6 ahead after a poor Taranaki clearing kick was ran back at then before Taylor found space in a midfield populated by forwards.
Taranaki hit back with their only try of the half to right winger Shayne Austin in the 32nd minute.
Austin had little work to do when No 8 Jarrad Hoeata drew the last defender after a poor midfield chip from halfback Lualua Vailoaloa allowed the hosts to turn Tasman around.
The second spell followed a similar pattern as Tasman refused to go away even though they managed to get their hands on little ball of quality.
Taylor was a constant menace while openside flanker Zane Winslade had a wonderful game and was never far from the action.
But goalkicking first five-eighth Kurt Morath, who finished with 19 points, landed his fourth penalty in the 52nd minute after the resumption and at 19-10 Taranaki were well placed to push on.
They did just that, thanks to a stunning individual try by fullback Scott Ireland 12 minutes from fulltime when he evaded at least six tacklers on a 50m run before crossing beside the goalposts.
Tasman showed their durability with a fine try to 19-year-old debutant winger Jade Poki 4min later after he provided good support to left wing Afeleki Pelenise, who chewed up 30m on a run down the touchline.
- NZPA
