Whanganui legend Chris Masoe back on home turf for The Classics. Photo / Kate Belsham, Ivy Digital
Brought to you by Whanganui Rugby
Usually when a young man makes his senior Steelform Whanganui debut in preseason, it will be at a small country ground in front of a few dozen witnesses, not a packed Cooks Gardens against World Cup and Super Rugby champions.
But 14 young men, as well as their more veteran teammates, got quite the change-up as their anticipated match with the Classics turned into a wonderful exhibition of attack – 20 tries scored in the festive game on Saturday.
Time has not dulled some of the old boys’ skills as the Classics showed all the tricks of the trade, their forwards working in the grey area of ruck interpretation with guest referee and 94-test veteran Conrad Smith, not to mention a 14-man rolling maul try assist, while their playmakers looked to let the ball do the work with some nifty kicks and long cut-out passes.
In turn, Whanganui offered youth and enterprise – in the swing of personnel changes from the last two seasons with retirements, withdrawals and injuries, coach Jason Hamlin went all in on the “young guns”.
Te Atawhai Mason and Shaun O’Leary were the preferred starting first and second-five combination, with Ethan Robinson’s presence at centre moving 2024 NZ Heartland Player of the Year Alekesio Vakarorogo out to the wing for the first time in three seasons.
All impressed – Vakarorogo retaining his lethal finishing ability with two tries, while Mason’s rapid acceleration was a bit much for the 35-plus-year-old Classics backs, racing away for his double.
Those included some of several turnover-intercept tries Whanganui scored after pulling down a couple of wayward passes from their legendary opposition, another being a breakaway from flanker Ekenasio Fisio, who started in the coveted No7 jumper ahead of mainstay Jamie Hughes and impressed with his powerful runs.
Robinson coolly slotted all seven of his conversions, with Whanganui keeping a perfect kicking record through replacement fullback Chad Whale and even new prop Finley Ocheduszko Brown.
But having blown out to a 77-31 lead at three-quarter time, Whanganui got a little lesson in the final 20 minutes from the seasoned professionals about not getting too laissez-faire with their security out wide.
Trying for more intercepts and leaving gaps, while putting the ball down on the fringes, saw the Classics run in 28 unanswered points, a reminder of the first quarter where they made liberal use of the rolling substitutions very early to get tries and come back at the home side for 14-14 and 28-21.
Former NZ Sevens winger Toby Arnold, through pouncing and kick chasing, caught Whanganui out to score a hat-trick, while it was very cool to watch the old All Blacks midfield firm of Isaia Toeava and Anthony Tuitavake pull a classic 1-2 punch attack for Tuitavake to dive across.
Fellow All Black Stephen Donald slotted a perfect four from four conversions, the Classics missing a few when he was off the field or else a closer scoreline might have made Whanganui a little nervous.
It was some of the non-test veteran Classics who really impressed, such as former Chief and hard-working reserve forward James McGougan, as well as try-scoring former Blues lock Hoani Matenga.
Nostalgia came to the fore when Whanganui’s legendary former captain Peter Rowe, two-time NZ Heartland Player of the Year and five-time Meads Cup winner, took a vacated spot on the Classics bench.
Now looking at more regular opposition for the rest of the preseason, Hamlin wants his team to be refining structure and putting in an 80-minute focus, as the Heartland preparation begins in earnest.
“You take eight or nine off at a time, having some continuity is a little hard to expect, but I think there’s enough there to show there’s some promise around this group.
“Sounds pretty trivial, having 77 points on the game, but we should have done things a little bit tidier in execution.
“Within the next two to three weeks, that’s what will happen – we’ll get tidier and cleaner on that, and all the things we’re hoping to do.
“We got everything we wanted out of the day in terms of putting our game shape and model into practice, and no one got seriously hurt, so it’s a good day by all.”
Whanganui 77 (A Vakarorogo 2, T Mason 2, S Kubunavanua, C Whale, T Pulemagafa, H Symes, S Pakinga, S O’Leary, E Fiso tries; E Robinson 7 con, C Whale 3 con, F Ocheduszko Brown con) bt Classics 59 (T Arnold 3, L Visinia, L Harmon, F Levave, J Rutledge, H Matenga, A Tuitavake tries; S Donald 4 con, Visinia 2 con, C Bourke con). QT: 21-14; HT: 49-31; ¾T: 77-31.