Randell tips Auckland to take title

By WYNNE GRAY

WAIKATO 41 OTAGO 37

All Black-in-waiting Taine Randell believes Auckland can overturn their round-robin result against Waikato and add another NPC title to their honours board on Saturday night.

He lists a number of factors - the boisterous Auckland pack, team confidence, defence and the confidence of Carlos Spencer.

"He is right back to the best of his ability and much of that is because his pack is allowing him room to run games and use his talent," said Randell, the defeated Otago skipper.

"Auckland are hurting other teams and I think they would have to start as favourites, but there will be a lot of emotional stuff from Waikato."

He nodded amusingly about the revival starting when Otago travelled to Eden Park and were thrashed 50-26. That Auckland form continued when they defeated Wellington and then Canterbury in the opening semifinal on Friday night.

"They are on an upward trend and the way they beat Canterbury will be a huge boost for them. It will give them even more belief about what they are doing."

Tighthead prop Kees Meeuws had shown real quality in the scrum, the forwards were a tight unit and the backline had shown a keen attacking thrust, Randell said.

Waikato had similar backs who used the width of the field well where their support play was always accurate to recycle possession or continue the momentum.

"And Marty Holah is an expert at turning ball over."

Against Otago on Saturday in Hamilton, Holah was in that supreme form again. His pilfering and tackling was dynamic and in open play he showed a step which often broke the first line of defenders.

Equally damaging was captain Deon Muir. Playing his 100th game, Muir consistently punctured holes with his bumping, barging running, then defending and upsetting the Otago drives in the first spell.

He seemed to take a knock to his back or hip after the break which slowed his impact, but it was a memorable evening for the 20th Waikato player to mark up a hundred games for the province.

He deflected any injury concern with talk of his "plastic ribs" and said he had got a huge buzz in the days before the match when a number of other Waikato centurions had phoned him.

"If there was any sort of good that came out of this game, it was that I was pleased for him [Muir]," Randell said.

The pair had been in the same year at school and in age-group teams together.

Otago co-coach Greg Cooper added: "He is the David Latta, we think, of Waikato rugby. That is saying something because David is held in such high regard down our way."

Muir, like Randell, has to wait another week to discover if he is wanted on the All Blacks' end-of-year tour, but one who will not be touring, departing Waikato wing Bruce Reihana, showed what a loss he will be.

Asked to do the goalkicking again with David Hill's injury absence, Reihana converted all seven of his shots, in contrast with the misery of Blair Feeney who kicked only five of 12 attempts.

"I asked Coops [kicking instructor Matthew Cooper] for 50 per cent, but he [Reihana] keeps doing 100 per cent," Waikato coach Ian Foster said.

Better success for Feeney would have lifted Otago morale and kept them within better striking distance, but even two late converted tries could not disguise Waikato's superiority.

"We probably lacked experience at times in certain areas of the field, and that cost us," Greg Cooper said. "So much relies on Taine."

It was a brutally fast game, even quicker than the torrid opening semifinal in Christchurch when Auckland knobbled defending champions Canterbury 29-23.

In their solitary round-robin defeat, Waikato were outmuscled by Otago, but on Saturday they reversed that trend.

Even without injured lock Royce Willis, the Waikato pack made much more of the first-half play, when referee Steve Walsh managed to get the scrums to co-operate.

Senior lock Keith Robinson was very impressive, Greg Smith nailed his lineouts and the three props used - Deacon Manu, Michael Collins and David Briggs - were consistent.

Waikato scored three tries in the opening spell, with midfield pair Keith Lowen and Regan King creating all sorts of dramas, and a halftime margin of 24-10 suggested a canter to the final.

Lowen and King were a case of the wrecking Machine and the butterfly, Lowen so strong and direct, King floating and gliding in his runs.

But a solo try from Otago replacement flanker Sam Harding and a rare Feeney success closed the gap to six points after 50 minutes and there was the potential for an improbable comeback.

That was before the wrecking machine and the butterfly reintroduced themselves.

Lowen charged and 15m later dragged several defenders across the tryline.

Then King, from a scrum move, jigged inside Ryan Nicholas and swerved back out through the cover from Harding to score.

A lead of 24-18 became 38-18 with a quarter of the game left.

Waikato fullback Todd Miller could not quite convince the television match official he had scored before Seru Rabeni, Danny Lee and Harding claimed tries for Otago as the game loosened up.