Turbo's beat Waikato
20th August 2011 09:31PM
ITM Cup Premiership leaders, Waikato took on Championship leaders Manawatu at FMG Stadium in Palmerston North tonight.
Both the Mooloos and Turbos looked to consolidate their places at the top of their respective tables.
The late withdrawal of veteran first five-eighths Stephen Donald saw a reshuffle in the backline with Trent Renata moving into the No.10 jersey. While New Zealand Sevens representative Tim Mikkelson shifted into fullback with Henry Speight running out onto the starting side on the wing.
It was Manawatu who opened proceedings two minutes in with a contentious try to Number 8 James Oliver after he scooped up the loose ball from the Waikato scrum close to the line to score.
Young playmaker Aaron Cruden was able to add the extras to give his side an early 7-0 lead.
Waikato quickly found themselves 14-0 down after Manawatu scored what could be considered to be the try of the season. It began with Cruden's chip and re-gather then finished off in the corner by winger Craig Clare.
Waikato's Renata was able to stem the flow of points with a penalty but only briefly as Manawatu capped off another long range try with captain Nick Crosswell crossing the line to make it 21-3.
There was no stopping the home-side while Waikato could find no answers to Cruden as he touched down near the posts after breaking the Mooloo defense.
With the four-try bonus point in the bag the Turbos weren't done as centre Asalei Tikoirotuma raced away to send the Manawatu out to 35-3 on the back of Cruden's conversion.
Waikato were not about to throw in the towel and were rewarded where in a two minute patch the Mooloos scored two tries to put themselves back in the hunt.
Halfback Brendon Leonard had a hand in both tries. First, working to put winger Tim Mikkelson in position to give the final pass for Jackson Willison to go over.
Immediately after the Willison try, Leonard broke through from the base of the ruck to set up the other midfielder Save Tokula right on halftime siren. Renata converted the two tries to have Waikato down 35-20 at the interval.
Referee Vinnie Munro signaled for the second half to start as both kickers traded penalties.
Tries were limited in comparison to the first half but there was no shortage of entertainment as both teams continued to throw everything at each other.
The Mooloo men tried hard but Manawatu looked to distance themselves through the boot of Cruden when he slotted a further three penalties to make the score 47-20.
Manawatu capped the night off when replacement Lewis Marshall intercepted a Waikato pass and cruised in to score with four minutes left on the clock.
The conversion of Marshall's try pushed the score out to 54-20 and that was how it finished at fulltime.
With the short turnaround Waikato look to regroup when they take on Wellington Lions at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Tuesday with kickoff at 6.05pm
Score Summary
Waikato: 20 (Willison, Tokula Tries; Renata 2 Pen; Renata 2 Con)
Manawatu: 54 (Oliver, Clare, Crosswell, Cruden, Tikoirotuma, Marshall Tries; Cruden 4 Pen; Cruden 6 Con)
Halftime: 20-35 Manawatu
Waikato Reserves
Vance Elliott on for Cummings-Toone in 67th min
Ben May on for White in the 54th min
Chris Middleton on for Graham in the 67th min
Marty Holah on for Bradley in the 54th min
Tawera Kerr-Barlow on for Leonard in the 54th min
Sam Christie on for Willison in the 67th min
Frank Halai on for Speight in the 67th min
Ted Tauroa on for Smith in the 67th min
