Rugby: Turbos tame Stags

Jason Emery scored his side's third try in a dominant first half. Photo / Getty

Manawatu 41
Southland 20

Manawatu kept themselves in the box seat for a home semifinal after dismissing Southland 41-20 at FMG Stadium tonight.

The Turbos' five-try victory pushed them a point ahead of Hawkes Bay atop the ITM Cup Championship and established a bit of breathing room over the rest of the chasing pack.
Southland are included among that pack but they had no answer for Manawatu's attack tonight, rarely threatening to grab a win that would have lifted them clear of mid-table mediocrity.

While their opposition enjoyed as much of the ball and equal field position, Manawatu were slick when mattered most and owed their victory to a few explosive bursts from their dangerous backs.

A rampaging Nathan Tudreu managed the first of those, running a nice line to collect an inside pass and carve through the Southland defence for the first try. The wing was then the victim of a high tackle that sent Elliott Dixon to the sin bin and, with the resulting penalty handing them a 10-3 lead, Manawatu would have been more than happy with the margin considering they had made little of the early play.

Southland were bringing about their own demise with some sloppy play and a poor lineout near their own line allowed Heiden Bedwell-Curtis to force his way over the line. And with missed tackles really the only factor separating the sides in the first half, Newton Tudreu danced through a porous defence to score his side's third.

With the shackles removed and Southland forced to chase the game, Keanu Kahukura made a bust down the left that eventually led to Dixon's try in the right corner, adding some intrigue to the second spell.

But that was soon snuffed out when Jason Emery showed real pace to sneak through Southland's midfield, being brought down just before the line but sliding over in wet conditions.

The game was virtually decided when John Hardie crossed to give the Stags some consolation but that was dashed and the southern side's evening encapsulated when Semisi Masirewa capitalised an a loose pass to round out the scoring.

Manawatu 41 (Nathan Tudreu, H. Bedwell-Curtis, Newton Tudreu, J. Emery, S. Masirewa tries; O. Black 5 cons, 2 pens)
Southland 20 (E. Dixon, J. Hardie; L. Sopoaga 2 pens, 2 cons)
HT: 24-13