Hooker and captain Liam Rowlands and industrious halfback Kristian Gent-Standen would be delighted with their pack’s efforts - alternating powerful counter-rucking with niggly spoiling of possession, getting several key turnovers to blunt Whanganui’s momentum when they finally got the ball.
No 8 Kaleb Foote also scored two tries for a memorable afternoon.
Fullback Patrick Hedley punished Whanganui with the boot in the first half, and while making a few misses going into the wind in the second stanza, delivered the play of the match with a brilliant grubber kick regather and offload from the deck in one fluid motion at speed, for Matai to put the nail in the coffin at 34-12 with 14 minutes left.
Whanganui’s home Meads Cup semifinal hopes looked sunk at that moment, until it was revealed that up in Whitianga, Horowhenua-Kāpiti were defying all the odds to hand third-placed Thames Valley a shocking defeat of their own.
For Whanganui, the early errors were followed by pressure at ruck and scrum time, then touch-finder kicks missing their mark and overthrown lineouts became a concern.
After some bad luck with his initial restart chases, flanker Josefa Namosimalua was again a standout and a rare threat when Whanganui got to the fringes, particularly in the second quarter – as winger Josaia Bogileka scored one try while both prop Keightley Watson and winger Peceli Malanicagi were unlucky to just be denied.
The reserve bench – aka the “Mob Squad” – again gave good service with front-rower Raymond Salu and winger Mitai Hemi dotting down in the second half, but by then it was too late.
“They came out firing, out of the gates, nothing to lose – it shows they put the work in this week and it showed on the paddock today,” Whanganui skipper Jamie Hughes said of their committed opposition.
“I think that puts a bit more pressure on us, to be playing at home, after a loss like that, to actually perform next week.
“Hopefully the boys are ready to put the work in this week, and we’ll see what happens on Saturday.”
It was the gremlin performance coach Jason Hamlin had feared ever since the last-minute defeat to South Canterbury in week one.
“Our execution was poor. I thought they were more direct and clear on what they were doing.
“Their work on the ground was really good - they attacked our ball, so whether our boys weren’t being strong or weren’t getting there in time or being quick enough.
“We were definitely getting beaten to the punch on the first hit. They just kept slowing our ball down and they had some nice touches, some finishes where they came through the midfield.
“But we weren’t our clinical best, that’s painfully obvious.
“Just frustrating, really, talking about trying to put in the effort and not getting out-worked on any given day, and I think today they just out-worked us.
“They were far more direct and [showed] a lot more physicality within their carries and their cleans, and our halfback was having to deal with too much rubbish.
“Even at the end when we changed it and we got more ball and quicker tempo, we were still getting knock-ons at the base of the ruck, and that was due to the pressure they were presenting.
“It should have cost us the [home] semifinal, but we’ve got the opportunity next week to come back here and put some things to bed.”
King Country 34 (K. Foote 2, A. Matai 2, Z. Wickham-Darlington tries; P. Hedley pen, 3 con) bt Whanganui 17 (J. Bogileka, R. Salu, M. Hemi tries; E. Robinson con). HT: 17-5.
