{"id":5995,"date":"2019-08-27T16:27:08","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T04:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/?p=5995"},"modified":"2019-08-28T15:15:07","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T03:15:07","slug":"real-battle-won-by-buller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/2019\/08\/27\/real-battle-won-by-buller\/","title":{"rendered":"Real battle won by Buller"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ben O\u2019Brien-Leaf<\/span>
\nPublished: August 27, 2019 4:27PM<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all we could do just to hang on to the ball \u2014 we couldn\u2019t afford to let them play.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A crowd of 878 fans at Westport\u2019s Victoria Square on Saturday would share Buller head coach Gus Martyn\u2019s take on his rugby team\u2019s 54-19 win against Ngati Porou East Coast in the Mitre 10 Heartland Championship opener.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur lock (Samoan international) Jeff Lepa took the ball from kick-off and we didn\u2019t go anywhere for the first two or three minutes,\u201d Martyn said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Coast have big bodies and they\u2019re aggressive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Martyn\u2019s team outscored the Coast by eight tries to three, having led the Sky Blues 28-14 at halftime, but those present saw a spirited, committed match-effort from NPEC.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a really fast game but we started slowly,\u201d Coast head coach Wayne Ensor said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe scrum battle went back and forth, and we hit the \u2018on\u2019 switch maybe only 10 minutes before the break.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe created opportunities. We\u2019ve got good runners with the ball in hand and we looked threatening every time we had possession.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Buller game-day captain No.8 Daniel Hytongue won the toss and the Coast began with a strong south-westerly breeze behind them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hosts\u2019 high-quality first five-eighth Robbie Malneek scored in the fifth minute, halfback James Lash \u2014 in one spot from first-five for injured skipper Andrew Stephens (concussion) \u2014 then landing the first of his seven conversions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ultra-dangerous Lash added a further seven points in the 15th minute for 14-0.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Coast hit back in the 21st minute, loosehead prop Hakarangi Tichborne scoring their first try with a conversion by fullback Zane King.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buller MVP (most valuable player) right-wing Alex Paterson was the next man to score, in the 23rd minute; with the aid of Lash\u2019s boot, Buller led 21-7.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 32 minute, home team loosehead prop Jack Best scored. Lash converted Best\u2019s try for 28-7 before powerful East Coast No.8 Mitch Crosswell made the biggest play of the game to that point \u2014 for what is known as a 14-point try \u2014 in the 38th minute.<\/span><\/p>\n

NPEC, pressing hard six metres short of the hosts\u2019 goal-line in the middle of the park, turned the ball over on attack. Buller second five-eighth Louis Devery made a long run, with Lash and centre Iliesa Ravudra in support on his left. But Coast fullback Zane King chased Devery \u2014 brought him down at halfway \u2014 and dislodged the ball. Incredibly, the Sky Blues\u2019 Crosswell was on hand to gather the ball up and run 50m to score.<\/span><\/p>\n

King converted \u2014 to the delight, in particular, of eight East Coast fans who, apropos of nothing, had come from different parts of the North Island to support their team on the Mainland. The score was then Buller 28 NPEC 14.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tichborne scored again in the 49th minute. He scored two tries in the loss to Eastern Bay of Plenty, two against Bay of Plenty Maori \u2014 and two against Buller. On form, he is unquestionably the enemy at the gates opposing teams ought to fear most.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 53rd minute, reserve fullback Tim Manawatu \u2014 a member of powerful Hawke\u2019s Bay teams from 2001 to 2003 \u2014 scored for Buller (33-19 to the hosts) and 60 minutes in, Lash\u2019s second seven-pointer made it 40-19.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 70th minute, strong left wing Petala Saukuru scored a try and Lash kicked a conversion for 47-19 and in the 78th minute, the 37-year-old Manawatu \u2014 with Lash\u2019s conversion \u2014 sealed the deal at 54-19.<\/span><\/p>\n

But for an intercept 40m out from the Buller goal-line, Coast first-five Sam Parkes might himself have gone in to score, denying Manawatu a double and giving the Coast a bonus point for scoring four tries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Openside flanker Trent Proffit\u2019s hard tackling and physicality earned him NPEC\u2019s MVP award.<\/span><\/p>\n

Martyn acknowledged the efforts of Mitre 10 Cup referee Tim Griffiths, of Manawatu, in not overreacting to the toughness of the forward battle, and his clarity in terms of decision-making and communication with the players.<\/span><\/p>\n

Crosswell, locks Adaam Ross and Scott Lasenby and captain and blindside flanker Hone Haerewa won good ball up and down the chain at both the full and short lineout, while centre Zac Guildford\u2019s organisational ability and energy were also assets for the Coast, who will work hard this week on ball-retention and communication.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 49th minute, NPEC were only nine points away from a structured Buller outfit well-led by No.8 Daniel Hytongue, who remarked on the strength of the Coast\u2019s scrum and the pressure created by the visitors\u2019 inside backs, Parkes and Hamuera Baker.<\/span><\/p>\n

Haerewa has a healthy, competitive unit to work with.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys played really well,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBuller capitalise on any mistakes you make, but we\u2019ve got time to iron those out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ngati Porou East Coast host Mid-Canterbury at Whakarua Park at 2.30pm this Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>
\n5️⃣<\/span><\/span>4️⃣<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Buller<\/strong> (James Lash 2, T Manawatu 2, Robbie Malneeek, Alex Paterson, Jack Best, Petaia Saukuru tries; Lash 7 con)<\/em><\/span>
\n1️⃣<\/span><\/span>9️⃣<\/span><\/span>\u00a0East Coast<\/strong> (Hakarangi Tichborne 2, Mitchell Crosswell tries; Zane King 2 con).<\/span><\/em>
\n➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span>➖<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ben O\u2019Brien-Leaf Published: August 27, 2019 4:27PM \u201cIt was all we could do just to hang on to the ball \u2014 we couldn\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[495,9,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mitre10-heartland-championship","category-npec-news","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5995"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5997,"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5995\/revisions\/5997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npec.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}