Whanganui rugby: Counties edge Rātana 20-18 in Whanganui Premier rugby thriller

Rātana's Brooklyn Herewini and Rangi Kui. Photo / Kate Belsham, Ivy Digital

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McCrea Scanning Counties are now odds-on to “beat the drop” and remain in the Whanganui Rugby Football Union’s top club grade come the split into three competitions, after grimly hanging on for a 20-18 win over Silks Audit Rātana at Spriggens Park on Saturday.

Having secured back-to-back victories in their debut season in Division 1, Counties’ hard-working forwards secured countless priceless turnovers in the second half against the fast-finishing men from the Pā, who had the outside backs’ speed and offload skills to get to the fringes quickly.

It was similar pressure at scrum-time that saw the Counties pack force what proved to be a crucial penalty try for an automatic seven points midway through the first half.

Getting a succession of penalties themselves, Rātana finally broke through to score right on fulltime through No 8 Jahkobe Ahhoi and their standout fullback Rangi Kui, who had almost single-handedly kept his side in contention with his line speed and kicking, just left his equalising conversion to the right of the nearest post.

While a very tight win, Counties’ new squad has proved they can meet the pressures of Division 1 – given they had to move this home game to Spriggens due to Macnab Domain being booked for a private event, while franchise halfback Lindsay Horrocks was away.

Young Englishman Alfie Browning stepped ably into the No 9 jersey while utility back Tim Goodwin moved into first five to take on the tactical kicking role.

Having missed the victory over Ruapehu, winger Emitai Logadraudrau had a massive influence on the game with two polar opposite tries – one a 60m piece of brilliance to out-run multiple tacklers and the other by joining in for the last two metres of an “all-in” forwards drive to score at the back of the maul.

His cover defence also denied Rātana scoring twice in the Marist clubrooms corner in the second half.

It typified the never-give-up defence instilled in the team from skipper James Marshall at flanker, who made some big tackles around the ruck.

For Rātana, their young front row in their second season continues to improve, having a tough afternoon against the likes of representative-level players Jonty Bird and Jack Yarrall.

Centre Xavius Smith impressed with a powerful run to set up halfback and skipper Rehimana Meihana’s try, while reserve back Ali Whanarere Tauri has speed to burn.

Rātana player-coach Jamie Hughes had to acknowledge they left their run too late.

“We were making good breaks, we just couldn’t finish off.

“They’ve got some fellas that are pretty good at getting over the ball and they made some crucial tackles and at crucial times.

“We’ve got a lot of young fellas in there and it was good to actually sit back and watch them play – we haven’t really seen them play because we’ve only seen them at training.

“They went all good today, just a bit more tweaking and we should get them there.”

Counties assistant coach Jerome Nahona was very pleased with the defence and determination at ruck time when Rātana were on the attack in the final quarter.

“We’ve been really building in that space, to be honest, getting better each week, but everything’s a progressing thing with us at the moment.

“Having back-to-back wins in the Premier grade this year, it’s a stepping stone for us and it’s something we can build to and now that’s given us a bit more belief, so we’re going for Top 4 now.”