Rugby: Taranaki already planning big things

By CHRIS RATTUE

Taranaki will begin planning for the 2001 NPC season today, indicating that they are far from happy to rest on the plaudits being handed to them after a brave but unsuccessful bid to make this year's first-division final.

Among Taranaki's plans are an $18 million upgrade of Rugby Park in New Plymouth. They have already secured most of their top players for next season and beyond, and this week's meetings will include decisions on which players to target from other unions to bolster their squad.

Taranaki's 23-31 loss to Canterbury in the NPC semifinal at Jade Stadium on Saturday night left coach Colin Cooper and his players extremely disappointed.

Captain and lock Andy Slater summed up the mood, saying: "After the game the emotion of the team was disappointment that we had come so close but hadn't been able to finish the job.

"We went there to win, not to just turn up and make up the numbers.

"We gave it a hell of a shot, but the feeling wasn't of how well we had done, even though we've proved a few people wrong this season."

The 30-year-old farmer, who made his Taranaki debut in 1989, is mulling over his future and is on a year-by-year contract.

But Taranaki officials say they have got their other top players on contracts, including the likes of lock Paul Tito, who signed a three-year deal last year.

In the past, Taranaki have lost players such as Daryl Lilley, Greg Feek and Mark Robinson, but the union's success and the growing stature of the Hurricanes should help them to retain and attract players.

Many smaller provincial sides have missed the first-division boat, while others such as Southland struggle to make an impact, but Taranaki are in onwards and upwards mode.

The Taranaki Rugby Union vested Rugby Park to the city council, and stage one of a redevelopment will remove the cycle track, realign the ground, and improve security and road access.

The Taranaki Event Centre Trust, headed by former Warriors rugby league chairman Peter McLeod, is raising stage-two money to build a new main grandstand, plus individual seating and a roof over the terraced area.

Five Taranaki players - Hurricanes Gordon Slater, Tito, Campbell Feather, Tama Tuirirangi and Daryl Lilley - were picked in the initial Hurricanes squad this year.

But others such as Hurricanes addition and flanker Brent Thompson, and inside back Mepi Faoagali, who was dynamic in the semifinal loss, will surely have Super 12 futures.

The Taranaki team were not far away from causing one of the great upsets in New Zealand rugby history on Saturday night.

And they deserved better from referee Paddy O'Brien, particularly over the sinbinning of lock Tito in the 46th minute for "smashing" a Canterbury player at a ruck.

It looked a highly marginal call as Tito appeared headed for a player in possession of the ball.

Canterbury led 14-7 when Tito departed, and were ahead 28-13 when he returned.

"I never saw the incident, although a lot of people have said since that the decision was pretty rough," Slater said.

"It was pretty crucial. It left us a man short on defence, and Canterbury broke through our inside defence one or two times when he was off.

"There were a couple of decisions that went against us. We got caught for going over the top when Canterbury were as guilty as we were. They'd end up with three guys over on our side of the ruck.

"There were other decisions that maybe on a different day would have gone our way."

One must have included O'Brien's call that Canterbury fullback Ben Blair had not knocked on in front of his posts from a Taranaki bomb. O'Brien ruled that the ball had dropped straight to the ground, but it was another marginal call that could have gone in Taranaki's favour.

Still, Canterbury did what they are expert at doing - enough to win tight games.

Justin Marshall was a key figure, being powerful in defence and making strong runs in the tight to give his side momentum.

Coach Robbie Deans rejected any suggestions that Canterbury were off-colour, even though a side laden with All Blacks struggled to put Taranaki away in a game that involved some skirmishes which reflected the pressure and importance of a semifinal.

"It was very physical and I was very happy with our effort," Deans said. "They were very successful in putting our possession under pressure. It suited them to slow the game as much as possible."

And his assistant, Steve Hansen, claimed that pundits who predicted a Canterbury landslide had ignored Taranaki's credentials, and were "off the pace."