Taranaki top of the pack again

By CHRIS RATTUE


Taranaki stayed in the thick of the congested NPC title race but missed out on a potentially vital bonus point against hapless Otago in New Plymouth last night.

Taranaki, who went into the game in third spot, notched three tries in their 31-14 victory - the third coming on fulltime - and will go into the final round against Waikato in the top four.

They sealed victory last night with a brilliant long-range try finished by Australian Jimmy Hilgendorf midway through the second spell.

Ponderous Otago had taken 55 minutes to notch points when hooker and captain Anton Oliver scored his fifth try of the season.

Taranaki may well have put Otago out of their misery earlier when a brilliant move put wing Sailosi Tagicakibau over the line, but the final pass was forward.

So Otago could breathe again, trailing 0-16, and they sparked a mini comeback. But their mission always appeared doomed and they plunged to their fifth defeat of the season.

It was not a compelling performance by Taranaki, who were crushed by Auckland and Wellington in the last two rounds.

But they got their show back on the road and will have gained some confidence for their match at home against injury-ravaged Waikato.

The Taranaki midfield lacks spark with Lifeimi Mafi out for the season, and they missed the cohesion which took them to five opening victories. And Otago dominated the ball in the second spell, which would spell trouble for Taranaki against sides with better attacking units.

There was little to enthuse over in the first half, when Taranaki built a 13-0 lead.

It was a familiar tale of woe for Otago, who had an advantage in the set pieces and especially the lineout where Taranaki flipped between the highly efficient and highly disorganised. But when Otago had the ball, they were their normal sluggish self, passing poorly and operating at half pace. To make matters worse, Shaun Webb missed two penalty shots at goal. So Otago trudged off at halftime with the unenviable record of having scored just one penalty goal in their last three halves of football.

The only try of the spell came when Taranaki fullback Scott Ireland skirted around halfback Danny Lee.

Taranaki (S. Ireland, J. Hilgendorf, M. Stewart tries; B. James 4 pen, 2 con) Otago (A. Oliver, W. Smith tries; S. Webb 2 con). Halftime: 13-0


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