Whanganui rugby: Win for Whanganui over North Otago in Heartland season opener

Whanganui's Ethan Robinson in action during his side's 39-21 win over North Otago. Photo / Kate Belsham, Ivy Digital

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Once they got over their stage fright, Steelform Whanganui put on a fine opening act to the Bunnings Heartland Championship with a 39-21 win over North Otago at Cooks Gardens on Saturday.

Down 21-10 in the 30th minute after making a handful of key errors and having to work hard to contain North Otago’s big tight five forwards, Whanganui not only took the lead before halftime but held their opposition to a scoreless second stanza, while pulling away to take maximum points from the season opener.

It was the visitors’ turn to make crucial errors in the final quarter of the match, while Whanganui’s security around the ruck tightened up and they got a lift from their utility reserve backs coming on late in the piece.

Fittingly, after their earlier defensive lapses, it was the forwards holding up North Otago’s pack off the ground right on their try line to deny them even a bonus point which brought about the end of the match.

Slotting back in at first-five after missing the pre-season, Dane Whale looked confident with ball in hand and off the boot – pulling a couple of old-school drift and passes to long-time teammate Alekesio Vakarorogo, who hit his lines perfectly to score a double - lifting his career tally to a phenomenal 40 tries in 43 first-class games.

Former Manawatū representative fullback Adam Boult, who did not take the goal-kicks in pre-season, stepped up to the mark and confidently slotted the first six of his seven attempts as part of a 24-point haul, also backing up line breaks for a double.

Ranging in ages from 22 through to 36 in the case of prop Ross McDonald, who lives the adage of never being too old to give up on your dream, Whanganui’s nine debutants had matches to remember, although coach Jason Hamlin will definitely provide them with a list of work-ons at training.

“We were ready to play but I think we were a bit slow off the jump on it,” he said.

“Our structure looked good in terms of defence and even attack when we held the ball and played some footy.

“There’s no special recipe to it all, it’s just hard work, a bit of sacrifice and playing smart, and we did that for the most part in the second half.

“Enough, coach-speak wise, that I can put some acid on them on Tuesday around the stuff that I didn’t like and that’s not a negative sense – just getting people in the right places and asking the boys to work a little bit harder.”

New captain Doug Horrocks felt his side was not far off, even early on when a couple of 50-50 moments led to mistakes and put the pressure on.

“I was pleased with our defence on the whole - the second half holding them to nil was pleasing.

“Our errors probably broke our continuity up a bit and didn’t let us push the ball as wide and as often as we wanted, where the holes were.”

The skipper also gave a thumbs-up to the debutant contingent.

“Everyone was rock solid and a few boys made big impacts; obviously Adam Boult played the higher level and that showed today.

“I thought Rehimana [Meihana] especially was composed when he came on the field at No 9; as a young guy, it was pleasing to see with him thrown in the fire.

“We did what we needed to, and a few goal-line stands which made the difference.”