Taranaki making their move

Taranaki 49 Bay of Plenty 17

Taranaki went from relegation contenders to semifinal prospects in one 80-minute burst after demolishing Bay of Plenty in Rotorua.

After three straight losses, Taranaki rebounded to be five points off the top four after yesterday's rout.

Their impressive forward pack, spearheaded by former All Black tighthead prop Gordon Slater, locks Paul Tito and Andy Slater and loose forwards Campbell Feather and Brent Thompson, steamrolled Bay of Plenty.

The home side, still hurting from their 72-3 Ranfurly Shield loss to Canterbury, were never in it. They rallied with a couple of late tries, but rarely threatened the Taranaki line.

Tito and Slater disrupted Bay of Plenty's lineout early on, and Taranaki climbed into their scrum, yet for 40 minutes of dominance they led just 13-3 at halftime.

Any chance Bay of Plenty had of easing their way back into the game was snuffed out within a minute of the restart as Taranaki's pack burst up the park, setting up first five-eighth Mark Urwin for the first of his two tries.

Lilley, who scored 24 points, got his side's fourth and bonus point try 10 minutes from fulltime.

The loss left the Bay at the foot of the table and facing a battle for survival.

"We saw Bay of Plenty lacked leadership and experience, especially with their captain [Mark Weedon] out," Taranaki coach Colin Cooper said.

"You can't underestimate the benefit of experience at this level, that is what has held us together in the past three years.

"We put some pressure on our forwards at training last week because our win over Waikato [in the fourth round] would have gone out the door had we lost this one.

- NZPA