Rugby: Abbott's on the rise

Prior to yesterday's pre-season rugby clash between the Hawke's Bay and Taranaki in Taupo Magpies head coach Craig Philpott fed lock Mark Abbott with some motivational ammunition.

"I told Mark the Hurricanes are on the hunt for more locks and Blade [Thompson, one of the Taranaki locks] is being looked at. Well both of our locks [Abbott and Michael Allardice] were better than Thompson today," Philpott said after the Magpies 31-29 win at Owen Delaney Park.

"Mark might be among this season's ITM Cup rookies but if he keeps playing like he is everyone is going to know his name by the end of the season," Philpott said.

Abbott, 23, continued his outstanding form from the previous week's loss to Bay of Plenty. He played the first half at lock and the third quarter at blindside flanker.

He was accurate at lineout time, extremely mobile and devastating at clean out time. He was rested for the final quarter but when he saw openside flanker Tony Lamborn go down with an injury he was jumping up and down on the sideline eager to replace Lamborn who recovered and was able to complete the game.

"I don't mind which position I play as long as I'm on the field," Abbott said afterwards.

"I'm enjoying my time in Hawke's Bay. The Magpies boys are fantastic, the weather is great and the people are friendly. Rugby wise there are some good opportunities I may not have got back home," Abbott, a former Canterbury Colts representative, said.

He pointed out he was happy with his and the Magpies form yesterday but agreed there were still a few things to work on. Philpott wasn't as pleased.

"I'm grumpy because that performance wasn't as good as last week's. Defensively we weren't up to it again ... there were too many missed one-on-one tackles," Philpott said.

"But we've been here since Monday and the boys have done a lot of work. That was probably a factor," he added referring to the Magpies pre-season camp.

There were still plenty of positives for the Magpies.

One was the fact they recovered from 12 point deficits twice in the game.

Another was the improved form of Lamborn from last week. He had a huge defensive workrate and always made metres on the carry without spilling the pill in the contact area.

With Super players Karl Lowe and Brendon O'Connor almost ready for action, the Magpies will be well served in the openside flanker role.

Winger Mikey Vuicakau's enthusiasm was again first class and he deserved his two tries.

Former All Black halfback Alby Mathewson oozed class after taking the field among the fourth-quarter substitutes. The Magpies trailed 22-10 when he came on and he immediately sparked a comeback with a quick penalty tap which led to Vuicakau's second try.

First five-eighth Ihaia West was far superior to the bloke he replaced in the 50th minute, Frenchman Regis Lespinas. West's distribution was slicker, his tactical kicking more beneficial and, most importantly, he succeeded with all three of his attempts at goal including one from the sideline while Lespinas failed with both of his attempts from handy positions.

Prop Brendon Edmonds and No8 Mark Atkins were both destructive menaces on defence and rampant on attack. Centre Richard Buckman added come concrete to the Magpies midfield defence when he took the field for the final quarter.

Another positive was the fact there were no further additions to Philpott's injury list. However prop Adrian Barone has collected an eye socket injury while playing club rugby in Christchurch and is unlikely to be available until the September 1 clash against Otago.

Former London Irish prop Max Lahiff is expected to be ready for the final ITM Cup rehearsal against Auckland at McLean Park on August 10.

Havelock North prop Kelly Petrowski will be the only player released for tomorrow's Maddison Trophy semifinals.

Scorers: HB Magpies 31 (Mike Vuicakau 2, Mark Atkins, Tom Parsons, Mike Coman tries; Ihaia West 3 cons) Taranaki 29 (Seta Tamanivula 2, Timo Tutavaha, Jackson Ormond, Avon Lewis tries; Beauden Waaka 2 cons). HT: Taranaki 12-10.

Magpies 31

Taranaki 29