Rugby: Evergreens bring heat to warm up game

Wanganui No8 Bryn Hudson tries to bash through the Manawatu pack, supported by hooker and captain Cole Baldwin.

The Steelform Wanganui squad was left out in the cold after its Ranfurly Shield warm-up game against Manawatu Evergreens at Cooks Gardens on Wednesday night.

The visitors gave the home side no chance of impressing ahead of the Shield clash with Canterbury in Christchurch next Wednesday when handing out a 52-7 thrashing on a cool winter's evening.

In cliché terms, the dismal showing posed more questions than provide answers for Wanganui coach Jason Caskey.

The Steelform squad was soundly beaten by pace and ball skill, although missed tackles was also a major issue for the Butcher Boys.

Adding insult to injury, starting fullback Cody Hemi was carted off with a broken jaw while starting halfback and squad regular Lindsay Horrocks was also taken to hospital to have stitches in his nose.

The game, however, was far from a rough house affair and was mostly played in good spirits.

It was a strong Manawatu Evergreens side, including three players who have been at Cooks Gardens last week with the Hurricanes Development squad, among them expat Te Rangatira Waitokia at fullback.

The opening try of their six in the first half came after just 90 seconds, then at regular intervals until the break.

They would then cross in the 10th, 14th, 21st, 23rd and 37th minutes.

The second spell was little different, although Wanganui did gain a consolation try in the 61st minute, started when regular winger Simon Dibben made an excellent break on his side of the paddock in his own territory and finally offloaded on the opposite side near the Evergreens 22m line.

The Wanganui forwards took it from there with blindside flanker Campbell Hart dotting down, and returning first-five Craig Clare converted.

Pace was a major issue for Wanganui and they cannot expect it to be any slower against Canterbury in the Shield challenge next week.

While most of the 26-man squad got a run on Wednesday, Caskey did not make the wholesale substitutions expected on the night.

Samoa A and Pirates halfback Faalele Iosua appeared to speed up the supply of ball, on the odd occasion Wanganui saw it, after replacing Horrocks.

Border No8 Ranato Tikioisolomone and Marist's forward Taione Ratu made their presence felt once they came off the bench.

For the others, it was difficult to make an impact when the team was either going backwards or had no ball to work with.

Caskey said it was pointless making wholesale changes when attempting to built combinations.

"We were guilty of a lot of things, but particularly of not chasing the inside runs hard enough and tackling was a big problem.

"We had no excuses. We don't have the luxury we did preparing for last year's challenge, which was at the end of the club season and well into the rep [training].

"This year, we are conscious of not overdoing things at this time. It is the meaty end of the club season and it's difficult to strike that balance," Caskey said.

"But we do have two more runs before Wednesday with training sessions on Sunday and Tuesday.

"While winning the shield is a longshot we've got to remember it is the Ranfurly Shield."