Former Wanganui standout Te Rangatira Waitokia tries to stop the rampaging Timoci Seruwalu at Cooks Gardens yesterday.
Having not worked one lineout or scrum together beforehand, Steelform Wanganui knew they were in for a rough Queens Birthday Monday afternoon against opposition who have been in professional camps for months.
But there was still positives to take away from the 52-17 defeat to Hurricanes Development at Cooks Gardens, as despite struggling to keep up with a relatively smooth unit and play a pace far exceeding their recent club matches, Wanganui were gritty and contested everything.
They even won the second quarter, with the match being played in 20 minute intervals, as big Timoci 'Jim' Seruwalu came on to shore up a very vulnerable midfield and turned in a barnstorming effort - setting up two tries before also adding the final try of the match.
But in between time, the gaps would open up for Wanganui on the third or fourth phases, as the Hurricanes displayed all the swift recycling one would expect from a well drilled outfit who have been playing matches on-and-off since February.
Poor Wanganui flanker Jamie Hughes had to face an assembly line of men-mountains in the Hurricanes forward pack who were over twice his size and just as fast across the turf - eager to fend him off or step through the line.
In Heartland rugby, first-five Dane Whale could get away with the odd risky cut out pass or occasional missed touch-finder, but not against full-timers who can turn the momentum in an instant.
Loose forwards Campbell Hart and Ranato Tikoisolomone toiled away, while Wanganui again has two halfbacks who bring different skills to the table, with Lindsay Horrocks looking to hound his opposite Kaylem O'Donnell and create opportunities, while newcomer Fa'alele Iosua has an extra yard of pace and rapid delivery of ruck ball.
Horrocks would be sinbinned in the final quarter as he desperately grabbed the back collar of a flying Matt Proctor, the Super Rugby regular and Maori All Black who is working himself back into match fitness after being rested due to concussion symptoms.
Wanganui suffered a big blow when prop Viki Tofa limped out of the match in the last quarter, and he will probably miss at least a week of games.
Despite playing 20 minutes against the British & Irish Lions less than 48 hours beforehand, Peter Rowe was willing to do his share, coming off the bench in the second quarter as Wanganui closed the gap from 14-0 to 19-12.
"Pretty hard to be too disappointed," said coach Jason Caskey.
"We were very underdone. One training session, not one lineout and not one scrum.
"It was all about the effort against a team that was pretty well drilled.
"Different body type, a lot of them. A lot more muscle mass. We fell off those tackles.
"We worked our way back into it for a little bit."
The Wanganui backs realised they were on a new level as the Hurricanes midfielders Pepesana Patafilo and Ollie Sapsford were up on them quickly with full-on body hits.
Getting into the Wanganui 22m after some attacking chips, the Hurricanes spread to Patafilo who stepped Hughes and went under the posts.
Desperate to reach centre Kaveni Dabenaise, Whale tried the long pass and Patafilo read it to intercept and run 50m under the posts.
Caskey immediately shored up that area in the break as Seruwalu came into second-five and Dabenaise went to the wing, while Rowe and Fijian lock Sokonaia Kalou rushed on.
The Hurricanes kept rolling as flanker Antonio Kirikiri dashed from a 30m scrum to find standout fullback Ambrose Curtis, who swept play into Wanganui's 10m, before the ball was worked to the right hand corner for former Wanganui winger Te Rangatira Waitokia to celebrate his home coming with a try.
But Seruwalu then made immediate impact as he smashed his way through those same Hurricanes midfielders on a 70m rampage across field, being dragged down right at the corner flag but popping the ball up to Hughes to dive across, with Whale converting out wide.
Tofa made a clever inside flick to Seruwalu inside Hurricanes dangerzone, as the big man got outside his tackler and then put Ngamatapouri clubmate Samu Kubunavanua over in the corner on halftime.
Perhaps getting a tough message, Hurricanes took their time coming out of the sheds, and when they did they lifted another gear, shifting the ball rapidly to each sideline for winger Malo Tuitama to out pace the cover into the corner, with Andrew Wells now running the cutting and landing the extras.
Wells took a quick tap near the line to twist over, then right on three-quarter time reserve hooker Ben Power was on the end of some switch passes to reach out and plant the ball.
With Horrocks off, Hurricanes took advantage of the overlap with Proctor putting Curtis over in the corner, Wells again making a good kick, and Wanganui were looking tired when reserve flanker Braydon Iose got the fend working off a scrum and freed up Wells to just run through two weak tackles and score.
But to their credit, Wanganui rallied in the last 10 minutes, closing the floodgates and working themselves into territory, and after a series of penalties, Seruwalu took the quick tap and broke through to reach out and plant the ball.
Hurricanes Development 52 (P Patafilo 2, A Wells 2, T Waitokia, M Tuitama, B Power, A Curtis tries; A Wells 4 con, P Turia 2 con) bt Wanganui 17 (J Hughes, S Kubunavanua, T Seruwalu tries; D Whale con). HT: 19-12.