Mako defeat Canterbury 25 - 17 at Lansdowne Park

The Tasman Mako can forget about trying to adopt the "underdog” tag this season.

BY PETER JONES [Marlborough App]

Their clinical display in downing defending champions Canterbury 25-17 at Lansdowne Park tonight put paid to that notion.

Veteran prop Wyatt Crockett had a barnstorming first game in the Mako jersey.

And head coach Leon MacDonald wouldn’t have it any other way. 

When it was suggested his side’s Mitre 10 Cup first round victory over the nation’s dominant provincial side for the past decade had painted a huge target on their backs for the rest of the campaign, he didn’t blink.

"We’ve talked about this as a group … we don’t want to be called the ‘underdogs’ who are over-achieving.

"We feel we have been around for long enough now, we’ve earned our place and we would rather be thought of as a top contender every year – that’s the way we see ourselves.”

MacDonald said his side’s reward tonight had come on the back of a strong defensive effort. Although the Mako conced 14 points in the final 10 minutes, allowing Canterbury to fashion a more palatable scoreline, the home side’s in-your-face defence prior to that ensured they were able to build a decent buffer of points.

"We were really pleased with the way we defended,” said MacDonald, "[defence] has been getting a lot of our time at training just now. It has galvanized the team actually, made it something to hang our hat on.”

However, MacDonald described the concession of points late in the piece as "a good lesson”.

"Although there were a lot of things we did very well, like our exiting, our decision-making on attack and we created a lot of turnovers, it just shows, you miss one lineout five metres out and all of a sudden two tries are conceded. It could have been 30-3 if they had executed … that’s the ruthlessness we have to bring to our game.”

While there were many heroes wearing the red and white jersey tonight, a few stood out for the coach.

"Crocky [Wyatt Crockett] got through 80 minutes … he was a calmer and organizer, his leadership out there was amazing. David Havili also, he was just mighty all day with his defence, he showed a lot of heart, that’s why we made him the captain. He was still sprinting after kickoffs in the final minutes despite the number of tackles he made.

"Ethan [Blackadder] was brilliant, Tyrel Lomax had his best game in the jersey, Pari Pari Parkinson showed that he is better than just an NPC lock, he’s got a massive future.

Levi Aumua was outstanding, without much recent rugby, young Jack Grooby at halfback did just what we asked of him. I’m pleased for them all.”

The Mako management expected Canterbury to get some momentum from their bench, with the likes of two-try hooker Greg Pleasants-Tate, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Sef Fa’agase and Reed Prinsep inserted relatively early in the second spell, their impact at the end exacerbated by a yellow card to Mako prop Blair Prinsep with 10 minutes to go.

"We were asking a lot of our replacements,” suggested MacDonald. "It was Mike Curry’s first game for us off the bench, Ray Niuia also, but we hung in there.”

A concern for the coaching staff will be what appears to be a serious shoulder injury to No 8 Vernon Fredericks, further depleting the Mako’s loose forward stocks. Fortunately, that seems to be the worst knock from a highly-combative encounter, especially at the critical breakdown/tackle area.

The victory continued the Mako’s good record in Blenheim, a fact not lost on the team, according to MacDonald. "The boys talk about it – we don’t get beaten here very often, it might have something to do with the closeness of the crowd … there would have been over 5000 here tonight.”

The Mako return to Blenheim for their second game, a clash with championship side Southland next Sunday, kick off 2.35pm.