The Magpies dream start to the season came to a crushing end, with a heartbreaking 25-24 defeat to the Tasman Makos on Saturday night. The loss handed Makos the Ranfurly shield for the first time in their history.

Trailing 19-5 at half time the Makos were in the drivers seat to snatch away the Shield, but a massive second half effort saw the Magpies ahead with minutes to go. It wouldn’t quite be enough however as a penalty conceded on the hooter would see Tasman steal the game from under the Magpie’s grasp.

It was all Tasman early on, with an early penalty goal to William Havilli starting the scoring, quickly followed up by a pick and go try to prop Ryan Coxon after repeated infringements by the Magpies in the Makos 22.

The Magpies had a stellar chance with a quarter of the game gone. A superb cutout pass from Nick Grigg found Neria Fomai, who darted down the edge. Fomai flicked the ball inside to Ben O’Donnell, who surged into the 22. Despite a valiant effort, including a critical stop by Tasman’s defence, the Magpies were denied a try.

Tasman would then make a break of their own, with a loose pass intercepted by Antonio Shalfoon and the ball spread wide into the hands of Timoci Tavatavanawai who made it into the 22 but was taken in a no arms tackle, with Hugh Renton shown a yellow card for repeated infringements in the 22. In a game of moments this was a huge one, as the Makos set for a lineout drive barrelling over the line with hooker Quentin Macdonald scoring the try. Tasman were now up 13 to nil, 23 minutes into the game.

The next 10 minutes saw both teams attempting to gain momentum for their sides, but little errors saw no team able to put a stamp on the game.

After a penalty allowed the Magpies to set a lineout drive, it wasn’t going anywhere and the boys got to work, building up phase after phase in the 22. They then spread the ball out to the left-hand corner with Sam Smith crossing the line, bringing the score back to 13-5. Tasman responded with a penalty and a drop goal from Havilli, pushing their lead to 19-5 at halftime.

At this stage it was clear that the Magpies needed to address their errors and discipline to retain the Shield.

The start of the second half was a back-and-forth battle, then in the 54th minute the Mako defence finally cracked. Grigg saw a gap and busted through the line making it up to the 10-metre line where he passed the ball inside to Lincoln McClutchie who kicked the ball ahead. The Mako secured the kick, but he was taken back in the tackle over the line, it was a 5-metre scrum for the Magpies!

The first scrum saw the Magpies go out to the left, but the ball was touched by a Mako player and went forward so the scrum was reset. They decided to rumble up for the second scrum and after a couple pick and go’s Joe Apikotoa crossed to score the 5 pointer and the score was now 19-10.

Another penalty goal to the Makos at the 60-minute mark saw their lead extended to 22-10 with 20 minutes to go, but the Magpies were not going to give up the Shield so easily.

A penalty allowed them to set up a lineout halfway up the 22 and the forwards went to work, building phase after phase, until some slick passing from the backs saw O’Donnell cross in the corner. A clutch conversion from the corner by Danny Toala reduced the deficit to 22-17 and now a converted try would seemingly steal the Shield back for the Magpies after trailing for much of the game.

The Magpies started to put the pressure on in the dying stages of the game, especially in the scrum where they managed to win several penalties, a strength we have seen all season. They set the lineout halfway up the 22 again and went back to work building phases. They worked their way to the right then went back to the left where they had the overlap, with Mat Protheroe crossing in the corner. Another clutch conversion from the sideline to Toala later and the Magpies were leading 24-22 with minutes remaining, seemingly snatching the game from the jaws of defeat.

However, rugby is a game of moments, and a huge moment came as the final hooter was sounding. In a dramatic turn of events, as the Magpies were trying to close out the game with pick-and-go tactics, Tavatavanawai’s crucial turnover resulted in a penalty for Tasman. Despite the hostile crowd at McLean Park, Campbell Parata kept his composure and slotted a 50-meter penalty goal, clinching the win and the Ranfurly Shield for Tasman.

Though it was a devastating end to the Magpies Shield reign, their second-half performance was commendable. They nearly turned the game around in what was one of the season’s most thrilling matches. Disciplinary issues proved costly, but the Magpies can take pride in their resilience and continue their impressive Bunnings NPC campaign. Next week, they will need to regroup as they head to Hamilton to face Waikato.

Full Time Score - 25-24

Source: Corban Boyd

Article added: Tuesday 10 September 2024