New boys fall short

Counties Manukau 19 Otago 23

Gut-wrenching - that's how Counties Manukau Steelers coach Kevin Putt described the feeling after his team almost upset last year's finalists, Otago.

But, as Putt knows, "almost" doesn't win national championship titles.

"For us, it was great to be back in the front line again. There was some great rugby but also some dreadful rugby," he said.

"It was frustrating with some of the refereeing decisions but we'll get better and learn from it," said Putt, who has taken charge of the Steelers as they play in the top grade for the first time since 2001.

Experienced first five-eighths Blair Feeney echoed his coach's remarks about how close they came to turning the competition on its head in round one.

"It's really disappointing to lose. We know we could have won it. The pace of the game was just a bit quicker for a lot of our guys. It's no good losing a close game," he said.

Feeney had the sort of game which typified Counties' effort - good and bad. At times he made darting runs but All Black Nick Evans, returning from a serious collarbone injury, also scorched past him and other Steelers defenders in a successful comeback where the elegant first-five made Otago's first try for midfielder Callum Bruce.

Evans was the star of the show for Otago. "My lungs were burning," said Evans after the game. "It's an old cliche but I'm going to take things one game at a time. I'm really happy with the way things panned out."

Feeney missed a penalty from in front but was successful with one conversion and four penalties and kept composure in his backline.

Otago looked to have it all over their hosts in the first 20 minutes, with Counties Manukau barely touching the ball. However, when possession was won, the Steelers were hard to shut down on the loose ball and showed plenty of pace.

"Looking at their [the Steelers] pre-season form, we were expecting them to be strong. They had pretty good defensive lines and scored our ball a lot," said Evans.

Eventually the Steelers got on the board with a couple of Feeney penalties, with the visitors going to the break 10-6 ahead after a tough first half.

The Steelers had the better of the first part of the second half but Otago scored first, flanker Josh Blackie touching down.

That took Otago ahead 20-6 but seemed to spur on the home side - who scored thanks to some solid forward play with Kristian Ormsby crashing over the line.

Feeney then added a couple of penalties to bring his side to within one point.

The game hadn't been particularly fetching to watch but the closeness made it exciting. Otago, however, maintained their composure and Evans notched a further penalty for the final score of 23-19 in front of a small crowd at Mt Smart.

Counties Manukau 19 (K. Ormsby try; B.Feeney con, 4 pens).
Otago 23 (C. Bruce, J. Blackie tries; N. Evans 2 cons, 3 pens).