The victorious Whanganui team with the Pinetree Log. Photo / Bevan Conley
The victorious Whanganui team with the Pinetree Log. Photo / Bevan Conley
Brought to you by Whanganui Rugby
The Sir Colin Meads Memorial Trophy was in no danger of leaving Cooks Gardens as Steelform Whanganui provided a composed performance to run out 41-3 winners over King Country on Saturday.
The irony will not be lost on the playing group that, after preparing for a wet weather track in their Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship opener in Greymouth, they were greeted with pleasant conditions, while a week later their first home game was played on a mud heap.
It was not conducive to the style of rugby Whanganui want to play, but the coaching staff will be pleased the squad just rolled up their sleeves and got to work - showing good ball retention, solid defence and a strong set piece.
This was all the more impressive considering they had to play just under 30 minutes with 14 players, as No 8 Semi Vodosese was given a red card on touch judge advice after the very uncharacteristic swinging of a punch, which didn't connect, in a ruck on Whanganui's 10 metre line nearing the 20th minute.
It was a shame for the young loose forward, who was playing his blazer game after 15 caps, an honour he shared with reserves Jack Yarrall and Josiah Bogileka.
Lock Matthew Ashworth claims the ball. Photo / Bevan Conley
Under current rules, Whanganui were able to return to 15 players after 20 minutes, although after halftime they also lost hard-running midfielder Jim Seruwalu to the sin bin for a professional foul, when he got trapped with the ball in front of his own posts.
But King Country could not capitalise on their advantage, surprisingly struggling in the conditions more than the home side did, with their backs in particular all at sea at times, with mistimed passes, defenders slipping over and missing their targets on two of Whanganui's first-half tries.
Without Vodosese, loose forwards Ben Whale, Jamie Hughes and reserve Samu Kubunavanua carried the added load well, the latter also covering in the backline briefly without Seruwalu, while the front row of try-scorer Roman Tutauha and props Tai Pulemagafa and Gabriel Hakaraia mixed their hard carries with short offloads to keep the defence guessing.
Heavy mud means pressure from tactical kicking becomes paramount, and try-scoring fullback Ezra Malo, staying in the role when Tyler Rogers-Holden withdrew, was outstanding with some great kick recoveries and attacking darts, working with winger Alekesio Vakarogo.
Halfback Lindsay Horrocks did a bit of everything with his kicks, sharp passes and tryline defence while, once again, Whanganui got a big lift from their bench in the final quarter – none more than Ethan Robinson, who is getting back to his best after two tries and two conversions.
Centre Kameli Kuruyabaki set up Tutauha's try and scored a barnstormer of his own, while young reserve prop Keightley Watson got his first Heartland try right on fulltime.
Whanganui staying steady under adversity proved decisive, as King Country ultimately made too many errors to be competitive.
"Just capitalising on those mistakes is where we were able to get the momentum and just keep rolling really," said captain Dane Whale.
"We've been guilty of quite a few handling errors and I actually felt like today we remedied that.
"It'll be interesting to see the stats because I felt like we held onto the ball when we needed to.
"A couple of dodgy turnovers, which I probably thought could have gone either way, but you're always going to get it."
Kameli Kuruyabaki offloading to Roman Tutauha who went on to score a try. Photo / Bevan Conley
Coach Jason Hamlin was happy that the work they had done on the areas of concern at the breakdown, under the eye of Peter Rowe, had paid off.
"We didn't quite get it all the time, but it was close. Keeping them tryless – really happy about that, because they could have buttoned off.
"The ability to bring people on in that [last] 20, the crucial period of the game, and end the game – we're hitting the mark there at the moment."
Vodosese will now have a trip to the judiciary, but Hamlin and his staff will review the match footage to see if throwing the punch was a reaction to foul play.
"We'll have to look at it and see if there's a case to be made [for appeal], but whatever it is, we have to deal with it, and get our players to be better than that – if it is a retaliation thing.
"The basic skill stuff, by and large, we did really well. One day, we're going to have a really hard, dry surface, and we're going to click. Hope that's sooner not later."
Whanganui 41 (E Robinson 2, E Malo, R Tutauha, K Kuruyabaki, K Watson tries; Malo pen, 2 con, Robinson 2 con) bt King Country 3 (Q Collard pen). HT: 22-3.
