Loose change pays off

ACE IN PACK: Tatiana Tafatu, usually a halfback, turned in an outstanding effort at flanker.PHOTO/FILE

The versatility of Eketahuna's Tatiana Tafatu was the main talking point after the Manawatu Cyclones upset the Wellington Pride 25-22 in their NPC women's rugby match at Petone.

Tafatu started on the bench last weekend and was expected to enter the fray in the second half in her usual halfback spot.

But, in what turned out to be a stroke of genius, Manawatu management used her at flanker and her speed to the breakdown, strong tackling and clever support play of her backs on attack made her one of the game's most influential players.

So well did Tafatu perform, there is now every prospect of her starting as a loose forward in the crucial top-of-the-table clash with Auckland at Palmerston North this Saturday.

"She [Tafatu] was brilliant, she was all over the place," Eketahuna and Manawatu teammate Rebecca Mahoney said. "She's never shied away from the tough stuff, so going into the forwards was no worry for her, she loved it."

Tafatu, Mahoney, Huia Paul and Katie Turnbull were the four Eketahuna players involved in the victory over a Wellington side who, as expected, relied heavily on their bulky pack to batter Manawatu.

Their size and physicality created problems for their opposition in scrums and lineouts but Manawatu dominated in broken play.

"Our forwards were a lot quicker and fitter than them, so our focus was all about moving them around ... once we got out in the open they struggled to keep up," Mahoney said.

Manawatu also had a clear advantage attacking-wise in the backs, with first-five Mahoney, one of the more gifted tactical kickers in the country, seldom putting boot to ball on this occasion.

"Most penalties we got we just tap and ran, we've got a lot of pace in the outside backs and we were keen to get them into the game as much as we could."

It was from one of these taps that Manawatu scored what was to be a vital second-half try. It all started in their own 22m and with slick passing and sheer speed they outflanked the cover.

With Manawatu having picked up the maximum five points from their first two NPC games, they lead the table but the star-studded Auckland side will pose a major challenge for them, something Mahoney readily concedes.

"Yes, they will be another step up but we've shown we can rise to the occasion and we'll just have to do that again."

Meanwhile, a change to regulations for the Heartland rugby championship means that Wairarapa-Bush are the pacesetters there. They sit alongside Mid-Canterbury and West Coast on 14 points and when three teams are tied, the one to have scored the most competition points against the other tied teams has the higher position (rather than decide that using points differential).

Wairarapa-Bush beat West Coast in week two and earned five points to West Coast's none. Mid-Canterbury beat Wairarapa-Bush in week three and earned four points to Wairarapa-Bush's one. Therefore, total points picked up against each other are Wairarapa-Bush six, Mid-Canterbury four and West Coast none.