Tasman outclassed by Manawatu in pre-season opener
Tasman's David Havili moves the ball in Wednesday's loss to Manawatu.
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It's only preseason and Tasman might have headed north with an Emerging Players tag hovering over them, but Wednesday's decisive 47-19 rugby loss to the Manawatu Turbos still stung.
After the highs of last season when the Tasman Makos reached the ITM Cup premiership final, Wednesday's heavy defeat at Palmerston North's Arena Manawatu was still a severe reality check for many of the potential new Makos hoping to make a positive impression on coaches Kieran Keane and Leon MacDonald.
Tasman were simply outplayed by a better-organised Manawatu team. Manawatu scored four first half tries, all of them converted by first five-eighth Sam Malcolm, as they took a decisive 28-5 lead into the break. Manawatu finished the game with seven tries, winger Newton Tudreu scoring a hat-trick and flanker Antonio Kiri Kiri scoring twice. Substitute flanker Shai Wiperi and hooker Nick Grogan also hit the scoresheet.
Tasman player Pete Samu is brought down by the Manawatu defence.
Halfback Jimmy Cowan scored Tasman's only first half try, while flanker Shannon Frizell and centre Kieron Fonotia each scored inside the last 10 minutes to help ease some of the pain.
If it's true that teams learn more from defeats than victories, then yesterday's ordeal was a handy reminder of the standards required to compete at the country's highest provincial level - even against the side promoted from last year's second-tier championship.
"We created opportunities but we weren't good enough to finish them off and the second part of the equation was, we leaked a lot of unnecessary points," was Keane's succinct post-match appraisal.
"So a combination of the two probably inflated what would have been a reasonably close encounter. They deserved their victory, although it was a wake-up call for the emerging players. A lot of them haven't played at that level of intensity and at that pace.
"They didn't react all that well, but that's not necessarily a huge negative - to me that's a learning curve. I'm sure they'll learn from that."
Keane said that the defensive problems were more individual than systemic, with some players badly exposed.
"Physically [Manawatu] were very good at the breakdowns and defensively they had a harder edge."
There were still some positive aspects to Tasman's game.
"We actually created some good opportunities and we looked pretty good [at times]."
David Havili excelled at fullback, while try-scoring flanker Frizell impressed on attack. Hooker Nathan Baxter also took his chances well as a second half substitute.
Considering the desire to blood new players, the quality of the opposition and the relative lack of preparation, Keane said he wasn't overly concerned about the result.
"It was more about an opportunity for the boys to earn their elevation and we were always going to be underdone. We came up against a pretty organised team with an attacking mindset who executed really well and kept us under pressure.
"It's a good learning curve for the young players. They'll get feedback and hopefully they'll take those things on board."
Tasman continue their preseason build up with a game against Otago at Trafalgar Park on Saturday, kicking off at 6pm, followed by a clash with Wellington in Blenheim next Thursday.
Tasman's opening ITM Cup match is against Waikato in Hamilton on Friday, August 14.
Manawatu Turbos 47 (Newton Tudreu 3, Antonio Kiri Kiri 2, Shai Wiperi, Nick Grogan tries, Sam Malcolm 6 cons)Tasman Emerging Players 19 (Jimmy Cowan, Shannon Frizell, Kieron Fonotia tries, David Havili 2 cons) HT 28-5
