Makos get pre-season wake-up call at Lansdowne Park
Tasman Makos No 8 Liam Squire makes one of several strong bursts during the early stages of his side’s match against Wellington in Blenheim on Thursday evening.
Often you learn more about yourself from a loss than you do from a victory. If that is the case, the Tasman Makos will be well-educated over the next seven days.
After being beaten 31-17 by a well-drilled Wellington Lions side at Lansdowne Park on Thursday, the Makos will head for Hamilton, and their first match of the 2015 National Provincial Championship, in a far-from-confident frame of mind.
An early onslaught from the Lions in the first half, which ended 31-5, was too much for the hosts to peg back. Although they enjoyed almost complete territorial dominance and a wealth of possession in the final 40, they were only able to score 12 unanswered points.
Makos head coach Kieran Keane didn't mince his words when describing his side's first half effort.
"We were really poor, scary poor. Mentally we weren't there. A couple of our plays early in the game were plucked out of thin air somewhere and we got beaten up physically, and challenged mentally … we just didn't front.
"It's another wake-up call and perhaps the honeymoon is fairly and squarely over."
The second half revival did provide a positive for Keane, particularly the efforts of some of the bench players "who went out and played with a bit of ticker", but he was loath to single anyone out.
Wellington, playing in an unfamiliar green and gold hooped strip, had the north westerly wind at their backs in the first spell, but didn't need any extra assistance.
The Lions had their first try within six minutes, Tasman's back three making a mess of a high kick. The visitors pounced on the loose ball and released impressive loosie Vaea Fifita who bagged the first of a try-scoring double. First five Jonathan Bentley, who formed an efficient combination with halfback Frae Wilson, converted.
Nine minutes Wellington were in again, No 8 Brad Shields darting over the line following a penalty from a 5m scrum. They had their third, and Fifita's second, soon after as the Makos continued to invite them into their half through errors and poor ball control.
A piece of David Havili magic gave the 1800-strong home crowd some hope of a revival, the elusive midfielder plucking a speculative Lions' kick out of the air, then dodging and weaving for 45m before acrobatically finishing in the corner.
But no sooner had home hopes risen, than they were dashed by a try and conversion to Buckley which stretched the lead to 24-5.
The sinbinning of Liam Squire, for a shoulder charge on Buckley, five minutes before halftime did not help matters for the Makos who were struggling to clear ball from the breakdown and create space in the face of a rushing, well-organised Lions' defensive line. Their scrum was also coming under pressure, despite a solid effort from Kahurangi prop Brock Kaahu and Crusaders loosehead Tim Perry.
The final nail in their first half coffin was hammered home in the 38th minute when Highlanders utility Shaun Treeby strolled through some fragmented defence to give his side a 26-point advantage.
That they were unable to add to their total in the second stanza was credit to a more intense Makos' effort, but also to the fact both sides cleared their benches with coaches keen to give all their squad a run before the season proper begins.
Most influential of the Makos' bench players was Kieron Fonotia. The powerful midfielder ran with purpose and always posed problems for the defence. He scored the Makos' second try, after 23 minutes of continual pressure during which Wellington were pinned in their half of the field. Replacement flanker Tone Ng Shiu, who carried aggressively, bagged Tasman's third from a lineout drive, leaving the 14-point final margin a fair reflection of the respective side's merits on the night.
"Wellington are a good team and played with a lot of heart," said Keane. "They had some great line speed and put the fear of God up us and we didn't handle it at all well. We went individual, which is a bit of a lesson."
Wellington coach Earl Va'a was not getting carried away with his side's effort, labelling it "a good hit out". "That's what we expect pre-season, a lot of free-flowing rugby, a lot of mistakes, but a better performance than we showed last week against Canterbury."
While pleased with the first half scoring spree, Va'a was equally happy with the second half defensive effort. "Probably the telling factor in the second half was that out of the 40 minutes we were on D for 35 of those. So to only concede 12 points was good.
"All in all I'm pretty happy with the whole performance."
Among the most impressive of the Lions was lock Jeremy Thrush, released for the game by the All Blacks management, Fifita, Shields, props Jeff To'omaga-Allen and Reg Goodes, plus livewire loosie Greg Foe.
Youngster Alex Nankivell and Ng Shiu put their hands up for the Makos, along with hooker Quentin MacDonald and lock Jeff Lepa.
The Makos open their 2015 ITM Cup campaign against Waikato in Hamilton next Friday.
Scores: Wellington Lions 31 (Vaea Fifita 2, Brad Shields, Shaun Treeby, Jonathan Bentley tries, Bentley 3 con) Tasman Makos 17 (David Havili, Tone Ng Shiu, Kieron Fonotia tries, Marty Banks con) Ht 31-5.
