Otago - NPC News


Captain's try seals Taranaki's fate
By Brent Edwards

Kelvin Middleton scored a stunning captain's try to drive the final nail into Taranaki's coffin as Otago gained an emphatic 40-26 win in the national championship rugby match at Carisbrook last night.

Eleven minutes from the end, with Otago leading by seven points, Byron Kelleher ran blind from a ruck and Middleton burst 35m down the terrace touch, beating tackle after tackle and throwing a dummy before ploughing over for the try.  It was a sensational try by the blindside flanker which evoked memories of Wilson Whineray's famous try at Cardiff Arms Park for the All Blacks against the Barbarians in 1964, and it sealed a morale-boosting victory.

"I'd say it was pretty lucky," Middleton said later. "It was all a bit of a blur. I hung on to the ball. I probably would have been told off if I hadn't scored, so I made the extra effort."  Five minutes later Brendan Laney, in the manner reminiscent of last year, weaved his way through the defence for Otago's fourth try to clinch a bonus point.

It was Otago's 13th consecutive win over Taranaki, its second consecutive NPC win this season, and the display was a vast improvement on the scratchy victory over Northland last week.  "We knew we had to pick it up from Whangarei and fix up our scrum," Middleton said. "The guys put in the work during the week and they got the rewards."

Middleton praised the contribution of Carl Hoeft, who was playing his first game for a month, and who was a major factor in Otago pressuring the Taranaki scrum. Taranaki started and finished the match with tries but did not create much in between.

Otago had a horror start, Jamie Cameron charging down Tony Brown's clearing kick to score within the first 30 seconds.  But Brown soon made amends, breaking the line before Reuben Parkinson raced 30m further and Kelleher, in admirable support, finished off the try.

It was 13-13 at half-time but Otago was invigorated by the break, No. 8 Isitolo Maka scoring after three minutes when he plonked the ball down with one hand after Kelleher had sniped at the line.
Taranaki stayed in touch until the tries by Middleton and Laney and finished off with one of its own, prop Tama Tuirirangi crashing over after a 50m move.

Otago had a decided edge up front with all four front-rowers playing well, including rookie hooker Tom Willis, who had a grand all-round match.  His line-out throwing was almost flawless, his work-rate was high and All Black prop Carl Hoeft singled him out for special praise later.

Locks John Blaikie and Brendon Timmins were solid, dependable and urgent about the field, Middleton had another fine inspirational all-round match, and Maka produced one of his best performances of the season.

Brown kicked eight goals from nine attempts to contribute 20 points and the gutsy first five-eighth was like an extra loose forward as he made as many tackles as some players in the No. 10 jersey do in a season.  He also got to play in an Otago side with his brother, Cory, who came on for four minutes in the first half while Kelleher received attention and subbed Kelleher in the last five minutes.

Pita Alatini carved up the Taranaki defence in the second spell, Parkinson showed signs of returning to his 1998 form, Laney put last week's nightmare behind him and Hayden Reid - while he betrayed his inexperience a couple of times - showed himself to be a young fullback of exceptional ability.

Otago still has plenty of room for improvement - there were too many times when it failed to nail chances and it turned over too much ball in the first spell - but it sent the disappointingly small crowd of 7000 away in good humour.

Taranaki struggled with injuries in the forwards, losing Gordon Slater and Dawson Tamati from the front row and openside flanker Darryl Fale, but it soldiered on manfully.  However, it was more than matched in the set pieces and, while Cameron directed play coolly and wings Filipo Toala and Mepi Faoagali looked threatening, there was not a lot of creativity in the backs.

Scores: Otago 40 (Byron Kelleher, Isitolo Maka, Kelvin Middleton, Brendan Laney tries; Tony Brown 4 conversions, 4 penalty goals), Taranaki 26 (Jamie Cameron, Tama Tuirirangi tries; Mark Urwin 2 conversions, 4 penalty goals).

Match statistics: Line-outs: Otago, 15-3; rucks and mauls: Taranaki, 46-36; penalties: Taranaki, 11-10. Kicking: Brown, 8-9; Urwin, 6-7. Half-time: 13-13. Referee: Steve Walsh junior (North Harbour). Crowd: 7000.


 

 
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