Rugby: Taranaki storm into NPC quarter finals

Photo by John Velvin

Taranaki delivered a warning ahead of the National Provincial Championship playoffs with a commanding 68-26 win over Wellington at Stadium Taranaki on Sunday.

The Bulls ran in 10 tries against the winless Lions to book a quarter-final against North Harbour at Albany on Saturday afternoon, although a late first-half lapse briefly allowed Wellington back into a contest Taranaki had otherwise dominated.

 

The 42-point victory was Taranaki’s biggest winning margin against Wellington, while it was also the first time the province had scored more than 50 points in three consecutive matches.

Taranaki were outstanding early and raced to a 21-0 lead inside 13 minutes.

Arese Poliko opened the scoring after just two minutes before Kini Naholo crossed four minutes later, while captain Bradley Slater added the third from a rolling maul.

Wellington eventually responded through Callum Harkin, but Reuben O’Neill’s try restored Taranaki’s three-score advantage.

At 28-7 the Bulls appeared to be cruising, only for Wellington to suddenly find a way back into the match.

Dominic Ropeti crossed from close range before Harkin scored his second, reducing the deficit to just seven points and giving the Lions some hope late in the opening half.

But Taranaki quickly reasserted themselves.

Halfback Adam Lennox crossed before halftime to give the Bulls a 35-21 advantage and halt Wellington’s resurgence.

From there, Taranaki took the game away from the visitors.

Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens sliced through for the first try of the second half before replacement Jayden Sa powered over as the Bulls began to expose a tiring Wellington defence.

Keightley Watson and Logan Crowley also crossed before Wellington managed a consolation try through William Davis.

Poliko completed his double late in the match to put the finishing touches on Taranaki’s biggest attacking performance of the season.

The Bulls were effective through their forward pack but were equally dangerous when they shifted the ball wider, regularly finding space and stretching Wellington’s defence.

It was also a significant afternoon for prop Jared Proffit, who made his 100th appearance for Taranaki, while Beauden Barrett played for the province in New Plymouth for the first time since 2015 after last playing for Taranaki in 2020 in Christchurch.

Attention now turns to the quarter-final, where Taranaki’s personnel could look considerably different.

After playing on Sunday, Beauden and Scott Barrett are likely to be unavailable for the Albany match with the All Blacks having assembled on Sunday night.

Josh Jacomb could also be in doubt after being named in the national squad.