They then wearily jogged to the next scrum to discover waiting for them was Hakaraia and his propping brother Te Uhi, along with Steelform Whanganui legend Roman Tutauha, the latter two fresh and ready to go.
The writing was on the wall – Rātana lost two tightheads and started trying to stay away from the set piece, while defence that had been solid finally began to give way.
Try-scorer Kaleb Sweet and fellow reserve forward Dale Akuhata began to carve off big metres over the gain line, while Taihape’s old master Dane Whale spotted Rātana faltering and went for the kill.
With Rātana still in with a chance at 20-12 inside the last 15 minutes, second five-eighths Brooklyn Herewini just missing a penalty to close the gap, and Whale took a crafty dribble kick restart from the 22m that only his old mucker in incumbent Whanganui captain Jamie Hughes saw coming.
Whale’s re-gather and dash earned Taihape a relieving penalty, and he would now run from first-receiver at an exhausted line with more impunity, earning more penalties and kicking down the touchline.
The home side spilled possession or missed their man near halfway and Taihape’s two 80-minute standouts – flanker Jack Kinder and winger Tiari Mumby – dashed away for tries under the posts, which Whale converted after previous misses from near touch.
Another to impress was Havelock North transfer Teihana Brown – a former Hawke’s Bay Sevens and Wairarapa Bush Heartland player – who added direction to the midfield and scored a couple of strong close-range tries.
“We thought [us] going into the wind in the second half was going to suit them because they’ve got some really good guys in the backline and can kick, so we thought we better take it up a notch, and our bench came on and made a massive impact,” said coach Taihape Sefo Bourke, who, like his opposite Hughes, played the match.
But again, Hughes had to acknowledge that when Taihape turned it into a grind, they don’t currently have the player resources to hold back the tide.
“I think that was probably the difference today – their bench coming on, carrying on the momentum of the fellas that started.
“If we would have played with the mana we had in the first half, we probably would have had that game.
“Had a few injuries that hasn’t helped our cause this week, had a few ring-ins, but just week-by-week we can only play with what we’ve got.”
