Lauaki goes straight to top gear in storming return

Sione Lauaki displays his quick return to top form. Sandra Mu / Getty Images

Waikato coach Warren Gatland retains an open mind on the best loose forward spot for rampaging Sione Lauaki in the rest of the national championship campaign.

Lauaki gave the lie to any notion he would need a few games to get back to his bruising best with a storming display in the 23-20 win over Counties Manukau in Hamilton.

He might have looked to be carrying a couple of extra kilograms as he made his return from a layoff for surgery on a pectoral muscle, but it made no difference to the destructive quality of his rugby.

Gatland rejigged his trio, moving captain Steven Bates to No 7, Liam Messam to blindside flanker and giving Marty Holah a rest.

Injuries a few hours later in Pretoria mean Holah will be with the All Blacks this week, giving the loose forward combination another run together.

Gatland says nothing has been decided on the argument over whether Lauaki is better at No 6 or No 8.

"We just want to get the ball in his hands as much as possible," he said.

It's easy to see why, and Gatland suspects Lauaki will be even more effective if Waikato can use him running wider lines as he gets more matchplay in the Air New Zealand Cup.

"I thought he was a huge factor in terms of his carries and the defensive tackles he made them miss," Gatland said. "It's nice to see him back."

Counties Manukau might not agree. They turned in a wholehearted effort on a wet, slippery Waikato Stadium ground, and at one point, with 20 minutes left and leading 20-16, they may have dared to dream of a win no one had contemplated.

They got into that position through clever thinking by wing Siale Piutau. When Blair Feeney took a penalty attempt, Piutau followed up smartly. The ball bounced off an upright, Piutau snapped it up and dived for the try among a group of tardy defenders.

When Messam lost the ball in the act of scoring 10 minutes later, Counties might have thought someone was smiling down on them through the rain.

But a minute later, hardworking No 8 Waka Setitaia lost control of the soapy ball while running it out from his own line. Sosene Anesi snapped it up and scored.

Waikato would have expected to have done better considering Counties missed more than 25 tackles, although eight of them came in Lauaki's stellar moment, a 60m imitation of Pamplona's running bulls.

As for Lauaki, "I'm just happy to finally get to play," he said.

"I just wanted to last the whole 80 minutes and give all I had in the tank."

* In a rattling finish, Northland got up with a try six minutes after the hooter to draw 24-all with Hawkes Bay.

By the time Hayden Taylor squeezed across in the righthand corner, Hawkes Bay were down to 13 men, referee Steve Walsh showing yellow to Ryan Glover and Peni Tokakece.

Wave after wave of light blue jerseys surged at the Bay line, only to be repulsed by yeoman defence.

Finally, they went right and Taylor got there, although the television match official may have nipped out for a nervous one, judging by the time it took to reach a verdict.

Northland were looking to build on their win over Counties Manukau last weekend, but had only David Holwell penalties to show for their efforts until hardworking No 8 Jake Paringatai drove across from a ruck near the Bay line 25 minutes from the end.

Holwell's conversion put the home side in front for the first time after the Bay dominated the first half scoring through two tries by former All Black Nathan Mauger, helped by sloppy tackling.

A Tafai Ioasa try put Hawkes Bay back in front 13min from the end before Northland's desperate late rally.

Bowden, on for Holwell near the finish, was left with the task of winning it. It was close, but perhaps there was an element of justice in the final scoreline.

Judging from the crowd, it seems the last couple of weeks have put a bit of zing back into the game up north.

* Tasman suffered through the early loss to injury of backline organiser Ben Gollings in New Plymouth yesterday, and the home team were good enough for a 22-15 win.

There was a good early score for perky Tasman halfback Kahn Fotuali'i after Lucky Mulipola made a lengthy run down the right flank, but Taranaki grabbed a couple of smart second half tries.

New wing Paul Perez darted past a weak tackle and sped across in the left corner, and No 8 Tomasi Soqeta worked a clever combination with halfback Aaron Good and second five-eighth Lifeimi Mafi to cross for the decisive score.

Replacement flanker Mark Bright charged over after strong work by impressive lock George Naoupu to close the gap to seven points four minutes from the end.