|
Steamers rediscover grit despite loss to Wellington |
|
Written by Jamie Troughton
|
|
Saturday, 05 August 2006 |
WHEN is a loss not a loss?
When something that was lost is now found, and when most people were at a loss to explain the loss.
Confused? OK - here it is in simple terms. The Bay of Plenty rugby team was edged in a Cake Tin thriller in Wellington last night, but in doing so rediscovered their mojo, which has been lying dormant for some time.
There was the usual heartbreak that the 11-6 defeat was inflicted by the All Black-stacked Lions in the last seconds of the game, but in reality Cory Jane's 79th-minute try for Wellington only cost Bay one measly competition point.
A week ago, after losing the third of three woeful pre-season games to Waikato, the Steamers didn't look like they'd get within 40 points of Wellington.
They never really looked like winning last night's Air New Zealand Cup fixture, but seemed to realise with 15 minutes on the clock that at least they had the ability to hold on for an enthralling draw after Murray Williams' two penalties.
Forget the dismal spectacle. Forget the fact referee Steve Walsh spent an hour after the game scouring the field for the pea he'd blown out of his whistle. Forget Wellington's astonishingly bad tactics and woeful handling, which were, quite frankly, quite forgettable.
Led by a brilliant trio of fossicking loose forwards, the Steamers never let Wellington settle, constantly knocking them over and forcing a litany of errors from their opposition.
Before the game, specialist opensides Tanerau Latimer and Nili Latu - who were playing on either side of the scrum - came up with a simple way to divvy up their jobs. ``We just decided whoever got there first would jump in,'' Latu explained. ``We went out with a plan to disrupt their first-phase and we did pretty well.''
Walsh had penalised the two fetchers four times within the first half hour, but their speed to the ball was beginning to tell. All Black Chris Masoe was a virtual non-entity, unable to keep pace with Latu and Latimer while Jerry Collins was surprisingly feeble until his last-minute break set up Jane's try.
The presence of Tana Umaga promised that sparks would fly in the midfield, and they did - Steamers second-five Jeff Ierome put two monstrous hits on the former All Black captain and eventually forced him out of the game with a dislocated finger.
Elsewhere, Steamers halfback Jamie Nutbrown was magnificent, his kicking game accurate and his running game robust, and prop Simms Davison had his All Black opposite Neemia Tialata bleating and back-pedaling for much of the game.
Jane's try was a cruel blow, with the hint of a knock-on, but considering the Steamers themselves spent the whole previous week writing off their chances against Wellington, it wasn't entirely unpalatable.
``The whole week the media had a lot of doubt over how well we'd do, with their All Blacks coming back,'' Latu admitted. ``But we just decided to measure ourselves. They were bringing the big guns back but they all just had two arms, two legs, two feet. We just had to believe we could do the job and we did.
``We knew we had the goods, just that it would just take time. We can mix with the big boys and our standards have been set now.''
|
News and Opinion 
