Waikato staged a second half blitz to run out 39-3 victors over Counties Manukau in a fifth round ITM Cup match at Hamilton today.
Waikato led 7-3 in a fairly evenly shared first half after hooker Aled de Malmache scored a try close to the posts in the 15th minuteto cancel out an early penalty by Counties fullback Tim Nanai Williams.
But first five Trent Renata's conversion was all that was added to the scoreboard in the first 40 minutes as Waikato struggled to finish off promising moves by spilling the ball at inopportune moments.
Counties' youthful backline, without a resting Tana Umaga, ran sprightly but were unable to pierce a solid Waikato defence.
It was a totally different Waikato side the turned up for the second half.
Loose forwards Liam Messam, Jack Lam and Steven Setephano, backed by locks Dominiko Waqaniburotu and Toby Lynn, pounded the Counties pack into submission with some outstanding play.
With the generous possession delivered by their forwards, the backline ran freely to help their side to 32 unanswered points from four tries, two penalties and three conversions.
Wing Tim Mikkelson grabbed the first try within two minutes of the start of the second half and two minutes later, fullback Sosene Anisi produced the try of the game.
Counties counterpart Ahsee Tuala ran into a mob of tacklers and Anesi was there to rip the ball away and race 80 metres upfield unchallenged for his try.
Counties, flagging from the heavy defensive load - they hardly handled the ball in the last 20 minutes, caved in to allow further tries to Mikkelson and Renata's replacement Sam Christie.
For Counties it was their second defeat in five matches coming after last week's win over Manawatu while the result saw Waikato break a two-match losing streak.
