Rugby: Makos cause more problems for Turbos

James Lowe of Tasman. Photo / Getty Images.

Tasman 27
Manawatu 3

Down, up, and now down again - Manawatu must feel like they have been travelling on a rollercoaster recently.

Back at FMG Stadium in Palmerston North today after two matches on the road, the Turbos would have expected better than this big defeat at the hands of Tasman.

But rather than home comforts, it was a miserable afternoon for the men in green, who hardly fired a shot against a Makos team which proved their first-up victory over Canterbury wasn't a fluke.

Tasman were direct, skilful and played to the conditions. In short, they were almost everything Manawatu were not.

The Turbos' last match was a comprehensive victory over Northland in Whangarei on Wednesday. Only three days earlier they were heavily beaten by Auckland at Eden Park.

This lack of consistency continued this afternoon (Sun). Apart from lock Mike Fitzgerald, Manawatu were completely overshadowed by their opposites. A week ago in Auckland, coach Jason O'Halloran was bemoaning his side's poor defence, but on this evidence his forwards are the ones who need attention now.

Despite playing with the advantage of a strong wind, they were behind after only two minutes - Tasman wing Peter Betham finishing off a move which started with a scrum in his own territory. Turbos first-five Tomasi Cama was too easily pushed off by fullback Robbie Malneek on the blindside and Betham did the rest from 40m out.

An Andrew Goodman penalty increased the lead before Craig Clare put his team on the board with one of his own. He missed another chance near the end of the first half.

After the break, and with the rain setting in, Malneek was the beneficiary of a piece of excellence when he easily outflanked the defence to run on to a perfect grubber from first-five Hayden Cripps.

Manawatu had no choice but to take a more direct route through their forwards and they began to make inroads.

It allowed Cama to threaten with the ball and put the Tasman defence under stress but too often moves foundered on simple errors.

More good work from the dangerous Betham and a fine offload in the tackle by halfback Steve Alfeld put James Lowe under the posts for a converted try.

The final nail, and bonus point try, came in the final minutes when replacement forward Jordan Taufua rolled the ball on to the line after a close-quarters charge.

Tasman 27 (Peter Betham, Robbie Malneek, James Lowe, Jordan Taufua tries; Andrew Goodman 2 cons, pen)

Manawatu 3 (Craig Clare pen)

HT: 8-3