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Bay sweat blood as semifinals beckon |
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Written by Jamie Troughton
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Monday, 20 September 2004 |
THE sign on the changing room wall reads ``blood on the shirt''.
It's a call to arms for the Bay of Plenty rugby team, an expression of how far they will go to defend their try line.
On Saturday against Wellington the players went even further.
There wasn't just blood on the apparel - it dripped down the chin of first-five Glen Jackson, out of the corner of Colin Bourke's eye and seeped out of sprig marks in the thighs of the tight-five.
Hooker Aleki Lutui sat quietly near the door, nursing a suspected broken arm and swallowing a grimace when physio Paul Cameron probed at it.
``He broke it in a ruck 15 minutes before the end of the first half,'' Cameron said, shaking his head. ``He kept playing until halftime and when he came in, he was telling me to strap it up so he could play on.''
Bay of Plenty won the NPC match 17-13, defending grimly in the face of a snarling wind and a desperate, howling Wellington side. It was Wellington's first loss this season and the fourth time a Super 12 franchise-based union has fallen to Bay of Plenty.
They have already claimed the scalps of Auckland, Waikato and Otago and have a comparatively gentle run home chasing an historic place in the semifinals.
Saturday's win was a total team performance, although the second-half forward effort in particular was as good as the 7300 fans at Blue Chip Stadium are ever likely to see.
Lutui's replacement Ngarimu Simpkins had his best game in a Bay jersey and fellow replacements Bernie Upton and Paul Tupai were outstanding.
Captain Wayne Ormond was a colossus, ably supported by Nili Latu and Colin Bourke in the loose, while prop Ben Castle tore into Wellington's former All Black loosehead Joe McDonnell.
With Glen Jackson and his fellow backs largely contributing to the 14-3 lead at the break, the forwards shouldered responsibility in the second spell and came out triumphant, never giving the dangerous Wellington side enough ball to cut loose.
``It was the hardest game I've played in for a long time but the most enjoyable as well,'' Tupai, who turned 30 last Thursday, said. ``It was good hard rugby packed full of one-ups. That's my sort of style - old school. It's rugby that makes forwards' eyes light up.''
Simpkins has made a mixed impact so far this season but took his chance with Lutui's injury.
``Vern (Cotter) has been emphasising all year that we're a team and if someone goes down we've got to be ready to step up,'' Simpkins said. ``Our team unity was awesome. We showed a lot of character at times.''
The most pleasing aspect of the win was that Wellington, boasting stars like Tana Umaga, Rodney So'oialo, Jerry Collins and Lome Fa'atau, didn't play badly at all.
They blew two clear scoring chances in the first half but were otherwise out-smarted tactically and out-manouvred physically.
Their only try, which enabled them to get back into the match in the 59th minute, came from a Ruki Tipuna charge-down at a defensive scrum, which landed fortuitously in the arms of wing Roy Kinikinilau. Umaga stylishly finished the 95m movement off several phases later.
Almost cruelly, the remarkable record of Bay of Plenty's backs monopolising the scoreboard continued for the sixth match in succession. Jackson adding four penalties to Anthony Tahana's try after half an hour.
Ironically it was one of the few times Tahana touched the ball the whole match.
On another day centre Rua Tipoki would have copped an earful for continually cutting back, often jinking behind the advantage line to prise holes in Wellington's spread defence.
But into the wind, with heavy-hitters in the opposition loosies, it was near-genius.
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