Hawke's Bay Magpies rugby captain Brendon O'Connor is calling for more accuracy at the breakdown and patience in the wake of some anxious moments in last night's second Ranfurly Shield defence of the season.
"They put us under pressure early on. We weren't accurate enough and didn't show enough patience. It was a bit of a relief to bring up 50 towards the end," O'Connor said after the Magpies' 50-16 win against Horowhenua-Kapiti in front of 4200 fans at Napier's McLean Park.
"We were up by seven with 15 to go but we showed what we can do if we hold on to the ball and build some pressure towards the end," O'Connor said.
While Magpies fullback Zac Guildford deserved the player-of-the-match award it could easily have gone to promising No8 Joseph Penitito who scored two tries with some blockbusting attack and was a busy defender.
Early fumbles let the Magpies down and they trailed 3-0 after the visitors landed a 40-metre penalty from centre Perry Hayman in the sixth minute. The Magpies replied with a try seven minutes later from Penitito off the back of a 5m scrum.
It only took the first quarter for the Magpies to realise the Nua were far stronger than previous challengers Wairarapa Bush. However a quick switch play, involving lock Sanaila Waqa and winger Mason Emerson, saw vice-captain and blindside flanker Tony Lamborn score in the 21st minute. First five-eighth Tyrone Elkington-MacDonald added the conversion and the Magpies led 12-3.
From then the Bay dominated possession and territory. However, superb defence from the visitors kept the Magpies out.
Enterprising play from the visitors saw them return to the Magpies' 22 in the 32nd minute and Hayman closed the gap with a 20m penalty when defenders were ruled offside by Taranaki referee Paul Williams.
Poor discipline from the Magpies resulted in another penalty which Hayman slotted from 35m, two minutes from halftime. The hosts had the final say before halftime when Penitito scored his second try and the shield holders led 17-9,
The Magpies again took a while to settle in the second spell. Head coach Craig Philpott must have been having some anxious moments watching televised coverage of the game in Auckland, where he is an assistant coach preparing the New Zealand Barbarians team for tomorrow night's match against the Maori All Blacks at Eden Park.
Several minutes of pressure from the hosts resulted in the Nua conceding a penalty which Elkington-MacDonald slotted from handy to the posts in the 49th minute. This was the cushion the Magpies were desperate for.
Horowhenua-Kapiti were rewarded for their entertaining and positive approach when No8 Sam Gardner won the chase to a kick-ahead to score in the 61st minute. Hayman's conversion attempt bounced off the upright and over the crossbar and the Magpies led 20-16.
Four minutes later, inspirational Nua captain Antony Fox was sinbinned and Elkington-MacDonald kicked a handy penalty to ease the tension in the Magpies coaches' box. Another handy penalty from Elkington-MacDonald in the 71st minute had the Magpies ahead 26-16.
Any faint hopes the Nua had were extinguished when Elkington-MacDonald slotted his fourth second-half penalty in the 73rd minute from 46m. The Magpies finished in style when winger Shannan Chase dashed away for a 75th-minute try which Elkington-MacDonald converted, and replacement flanker Tom Stanley scored handy to the posts to allow Elkington-MacDonald to add the extras again.
Replacement prop Mark Braidwood had the final say with a try well into injury time and the pivot was on song again. Elkington-MacDonald ended with 20 points, one fewer than the previous week. He nailed eight of 10 attempts at goal.
All of the Horowhenua-Kapiti players deserve praise for their courageous effort.
Particularly impressive were Hayman and fullback Michael Tambour in the backline and Fox and Gardner in the pack.