Tasman open their NPC rugby campaign with bonus-point win over Waikato
Tasman Makos winger Monty Ioane attempts to break clear of second five-eighth Jordan Payne's tackle.
The Tasman Makos have kicked some of their pre-season angst to touch after opening their 2015 ITM Cup rugby campaign with a satisfying 35-20 bonus point win over Waikato in Hamilton on Friday.
A try to substitute halfback Jimmy Cowan with two minutes remaining helped secure Tasman their try-scoring bonus following earlier tries to loose forwards Liam Squire, Shane Christie and Pete Samu.
It was Tasman's third consecutive win over Waikato and a much-needed tonic for some erratic pre-season form highlighted by an often dysfunctional defence. So with that defence still under intense scrutiny, Friday's effort in restricting Waikato to just one try proved every bit as satisfying as their four-try bonus.
Cowan's try against the right-hand post with time almost up brought an immense sense of relief to a Tasman side that, despite looking more effective for much of the contest, still struggled to shake off a young but enthusiastic Waikato outfit.
Waikato primarily stayed in touch through the accurate boot of first five-eighth Damian McKenzie whose five penalty successes enabled the home team to remain well in the hunt. But Tasman persevered, managed to string the phases together and came away with an important first up win.
Tasman head coach Kieran Keane said the team had taken "three steps" forward from their underwhelming pre-season efforts.
"We detected a better attitude pre-game, and while you're confident, you can't read it all the time," Keane said.
"It wasn't a perfect scenario but it had some pluses.
"I thought sometimes on D[efence] we were very good and at times we weren't. We were running negative lines...and it caused us a few problems. But we scrambled well.
"We didn't really take all our opportunities on attack but we looked good when we held the ball. When we built phases, we looked in control of things."
Three penalty successes by McKenzie, the first from 55m, to a solitary reply from Tasman No 10 Marty Banks had Waikato ahead 9-3 midway through the first half.
But it was Tasman who eventually opened the try-scoring when No 8 Squire dived across in the corner following a clever overhead pass from hooker Quentin MacDonald nine minutes before the break.
Having set a new Tasman try-scoring record in 2013 with eight, it was Chiefs player Squire's first try in more than a season after surprisingly not scoring once last year.
Tasman struck again seven minutes later when flanker and captain Christie lunged over following a well-controlled rolling maul from an attacking lineout, Banks' second conversion putting the visitors ahead 17-9 at halftime.
Tasman's two late tries were indicative of their increasing control after Waikato team had defended enthusiastically early on. Gradually though, Tasman began to string the phases together as the pressure finally told. Waikato, conversely, rarely threatened on attack during the first half.
McKenzie and Banks traded further penalties shortly after the restart as Waikato trimmed the deficit to 20-15. Tasman also continued to get stung by a mounting penalty count to help keep Waikato in the hunt.
Still, Tasman managed to increase their lead to 25-15 after Samu finished off a counter-attack in the 18th minute. But with Banks sitting in the sin-bin after being penalised for an intentional knock-on, young Waikato fullback Shaun Stevenson marked his debut for the province with a try, crossing out wide to help put the home team within five points.
A noticeable lift in Waikato's confidence meant some testing moments for Tasman's under-manned defence. But it was Cowan who finally sealed the deal, coming off the bench to help clinch an important first up win.
For Keane though, the good ultimately outweighed the bad.
"It was a scruffy performance, but individuals made some big gains in my eyes," he said.
Finally free of the chronic hamstring complaint that almost wrecked his Super Rugby season with the Highlanders, Christie again looked full of running and played a key part in Tasman's much-improved defence. Squire and Samu offered strong support, Samu also stealing Waikato's very first lineout throw to highlight Tasman's set phase ascendancy.
And as well as beginning the new season with a healthy 15-point haul, Banks showed excellent control, despite his second half sin-binning.
"[Waikato] were a bit of a banana skin for us but we held together well. We stretched them at the right times and we put the killer punch in at the right time. But it wasn't perfect and I think the balls will just be pleased that they came away with five points."
Tasman are at home to Bay of Plenty at Trafalgar Park next Friday.
AT A GLANCE
Tasman Makos 35 (Liam Squire, Shane Christie, Pete Samu, Jimmy Cowan tries, Marty Banks 3 cons, 3 pens)
Waikato 20 (Shaun Stevenson try, Damian McKenzie 5 pens) Ht 17-9
