Waikato burst Taranaki's bubble, close in on NPC semis

6.30pm

UPDATE - One of Taranaki's best NPC first division rugby seasons came to end today when they were beaten 26-20 by Waikato in New Plymouth.

Waikato rode home on the accurate boot of first five-eighth David Hill, who landed six from six, including three first-half penalties from long range and difficult angles.

The race for a semifinal spot in this final round-robin game saw Taranaki score three tries to two but their usual reliable kicker Brock James missed three shots at goal.

It was Waikato's experience however that told in the end when winger Soseni Anesi and No 8 Steven Bates scored a try each in the last 14 minutes.

Anesi, the highest try scorer in the division, crossed for his ninth of the season in the 66th minute to give Waikato the lead for the first time in the game.

It followed a nicely weighted kick from Hill, with Liam Messam playing the role of the final passer to clear the way.

The Taranaki defence, that had been solid all over the field until then, was stretched on the right and it never recovered.

Waikato's loose forwards and backline started punching holes through the middle and eventually Taranaki's defence looked disjointed, allowing a maul through for Bates' try.

Taranaki, who had beaten such teams as Canterbury and Otago this season to remain in play-off contention, dominated until halftime to lead 13-9 after scoring two tries, in the 20th minute through left winger Shayne Austin and then by right winger Sailosi Tagicakibau.

That reflected their game. They engaged the forwards to free up the ball for their backline to have a crack, forcing Waikato to play catch-up.

While the homeside worked hard for their points, Waikato punished them from way out, with Hill's laser-guided shots keeping them in touch.

Waikato changed their game in the second half, using their big men to drive more.

At one stage they strung together 11 phases and eventually lost the ball forward in the face of a strong defence.

Then midfield back Keith Lowen intercepted a pass from James and raced 40m before James reeled him.

Lowen threw a blind pass back and a scoring chance was muffed.

Hill landed his fourth penalty in the 54th minute to close the gap to 13-12 before Anesi and Bates struck the knockout blows.

"It's a pretty tough assignment to come here and try to get points this year," Waikato captain Jono Gibbes said.

"We didn't get everything on our own terms and I'm really rapt the guys gutsed it out and got the points.

"We never felt we were out of the game at all even after they dominated and scored the first two tries, the sinbinning of (prop, David) Briggs messed us up a wee bit at lineout time. We lost a few crucial lineouts and they got a fair bit of ball.

"But we just felt that if we got our hands on the pill and play a bit that we'd work our way back slowly and that was the case -- and got a few tries, whether they were created or were opportunists I'm not sure but we're rapt to get a win down here.

"In the second half we started to get behind them a bit and take them on in their own game but they're such a proud team down here and they're bloody hard to beat that's for sure, because they got stuck on us the whole way through and we knew we couldn't afford to rest at all."

Taranaki captain Paul Tito said it was going to be a long summer for his players.

"It's disappointing. It's going to be a long summer, going so close only makes it harder."

"Waikato hung in there. They never went away and backed themselves at the end.

"I couldn't have asked for more. We've just got to stick together as a team and build on this next year."

Bates paid tribute to the Waikato tight five.

"They sucked most of the juice out of the Taranaki boys," he said.

"It's a big win for us, the third year in a row we've made the semis."

Taranaki coach Kieran Crowley said his players gave it everything.

"Right to the end, they kept on fighting. They're absolutely gutted. I'm proud of the guys, but you have to hand it to Waikato, they deserved their win. They put us under pressure and forced us in to errors."


Waikato 26 (Soseni Anesi, Steven Bates tries; David Hill 4 pen, 2 con)

Taranaki 20 (Shayne Austin, Sailosi Tagacakibau, Brent Thompson tries; Brock James pen, con).

Halftime: 9-13.

- NZPA

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