Rugby Ngatapa v YMP -
YMP avenged a first-round loss to Ngatapa with an emphatic 39-12 bonus-point victory at Barry Park on Saturday in the opening game of the second round of Poverty Bay premier rugby.
Serious injuries to lock Scott Brodie (concussion), flanker Alex Chrisp (torm ankle tendons) and halfback and captain Chris Richardson (badly bruised ankle) along with yellow cards to Chrisp and lock Sam McDell did not help Larsawn Ngatapa.
But such was the dominant performance from the East Coast Farm Vets YMP forwards it might not have mattered who Ngatapa fielded.
YMP coach Steve Smith has been wanting an 80-minute effort from his side and the Magpie players — inspired by my man of the match, second five-eighth and skipper Reihana Wyllie — were magnificent.
Was it an 80-minute display?
Not quite. For 10 minutes in the second half, when Smith made changes, Ngatapa clawed their way back into the game. Trailing 25-7, they reduced the deficit with a try to replacement winger Mark Yanz and then bombed what seemed a certain try when another replacement, first-five Lyle Crudis, had a three-man overlap but choose to take on the defence.
With the YMP reserves now settling in and knowing they needed to make an impact to boost their chances of getting a starting spot this week, YMP fullback Jayden Milner bagged his second five-pointer, converted by first-five Brian Whaitiri-White, to take the game away from Ngatapa.
Milner’s try, the fourth, came after hooker Shayde Skudder ripped the ball from Ngatapa midfielder Oka Sanerivi and, with no cover to stop him, Milner raced away to score under the posts and make it 32-12 with 12 minutes remaining.
Jeremy Ferris, on for halfback Quinnton Pari-Collins, iced the cake with a try after superb work from Wyllie and Milner.
YMP manager Vaughan White gave the player-of-the-day award to the “whole team” and he had a point.
The forwards — Axel Campbell, Skudder, Lewis Fleming, Eru Wharerau (who scored a try in the first half), Rocky Monika, Willis Tamatea, Fawn White and Mekepio Brown (who had his best game of the season) — all made big metres with ball in hand, gave the backs great front-foot ball and were rock-solid at scrums and good at the lineout.
Pari-Collins fired out passes like a machine gun to Whaitiri-White, Wyllie, Te Peehi Fairlie, Te Whaiora Paenga, Winiata Tarawa and Milner, who launched some great backline moves.
But head and shoulders above his teammates was the captain Wyllie. It is no secret that Wyllie is a hard man to stop on the crash but in this game he gave an overall commanding performance, breaking tackles often as first receiver, sidestepping his way past defenders, tackling well and offloading some perfectly timed and weighted passes to free up his outsides.
Skudder, who gets my two points, was in the thick of everything and posted the first points of the game in the 13th minute, after Whaitiri-White did the spadework.
Two minutes later came the try of the match. The forwards smashed their way up the field with great support play and technique to match. Courageous defence held them at bay but then Wyllie showed his class. He timed his pass to perfection as Milner (1pt) hit the line at speed to dot down.
The hard-working Sanerivi closed the gap with a try in the 37th minute, only for YMP to hit back from the restart. Pari-Collins was the provider with a darting run, and Wharerau scored a well-deserved try to give YMP a 19-7 lead at the halftime.
Two Whaitiri-White penalties stretched the gap in the second 40, before Yanz got his name on the scoresheet.
“It was a great start to the second round,” Smith said.
“We’ve been working on some variations in training recently and they’re starting to pay off. Our forwards gave us what we wanted — domination — but they’re also very good runners and ball carriers.
Ngatapa assistant coach David McDonald agreed that the injuries and yellow cards didn’t help but accepted that the better team on the day won.
“It was YMP’s day but we’re proud of the way the guys hung in and never dropped their heads,” McDonald said.
Ngatapa’s best were McDell, flanker James Marr and first-five Matt Raleigh.
YMP 39 (J Milner 2, S Skudder, E Wharerau, J Ferris tries; B Whaitiri-White 4 con, 2 pen).
Ngatapa 12 (O Sanerivi, M Yanz tries; P Livingston con). HT:19-7.