tighthead ted report – Thames Valley v Whanganui

The Bill Osborne Taonga is off down to Whanganui after the visitors held out a Valley onslaught in the last ten minutes to take the match 16-14. To be fair though, Valley had done everything they could to lose the match, and as much as it pains ole Tighthead Ted to say, Whanganui did deserve the win

The butcher boys played an exemplary game into the breeze in the first spell, monopolising the ball after Valley started off with a hiss and a roar, a try to flanker Cam Dromgool, who showed more toe than a roman sandal, chasing down a Leroy Neels kick in the first five minutes. Then some fine forward work, the good old fashioned pick and go to the fore putting Whanganui under pressure, a nice break from Charlie Marsh that should have been converted to a five pointer, but the Swampies couldn’t break some stoic defence. This was aided at times with some basic errors and wrong options, but it was looking promising that using the wind in the first spell would be rewarded.

But Whanganui are made of stern stuff, and they monopolised possession through the last 20 minutes of the first spell, before taking a kickable penalty in the final moments to go into the break down 3-7. Valley would have been disappointed with their return from the first 40, some fine work from their forwards unrewarded. Speaking of unrewarded, the Valley scrum was a dominant force once again this week, and once again not earning penalties. Not one to criticise match officials, so I won’t, even when they deserve it. And don’t talk to me about lineout throws, Elton John was straighter than a few of those efforts from Whanganui. But that wasn’t the losing of the match, we blew a few of our own throws too that are normally bread and butter for the our big grunters up front.

Moan over – second half kicked off and Valley again mixed some good play with some not so flash. Whanganui landed a penalty early in that second 40 to reduce the lead to one point, and with the wind picking up, it was looking like it could be a tough day at the office. The game turned into a bit of an arm wrestle through this stage, neither team able to crack open some solid defence. Whanganui earned themselves another kickable penalty, rewarded for their only dominant scrum of the match with a penalty (go figure), and took a two point lead into the final quarter 9-7.

The match was still there for the winning, but too many errors in core skills killed the chances – a missed touch for a regulation five metre lineout drive, a crooked throw (some were spotted), a missed tackle, wrong options, (don’t kick it, run it, don’t run it, kick it) and from these a loopy run from broken play saw the Whanganui fullback score Whanganui’s only five pointer, and with ten to go on the clock, the visitors took a commanding lead 16-7.

Thames Valley didn’t lie down and die though, they got stuck in with some good into the wind rugby, the forwards taking control, and finally cracked the visitors defence, for Fletcher Morgan to crash over under the posts to take the score to 14-16. Time was almost up on the clock though, but the Swampies took the kickoff, and proceeded to batter the Whanganui defence through to the 87th minute. There was no way through though, the Valley were unable to push through in close or out wide, and it was a matter of time before an error saw the ball coughed up and Whanganui kick the ball out to finish the match and take the Heartland points and the Bill Osborne Taonga.

Big matches upfront once again from the Valley pack, led by the young tackling machine prop Will Martin and his partner in crime Hiliau Latu. Both props prominent in defence, and also prominent with ball carries as they Valley looked to come back into the match late. Cam Dromgool was a machine in the loose, rewarded with an early try. The backline seemed a little off to this tight forward, lacking punch in close. They looked most dangerous when they got the ball out to wings Charlie Marsh and Alex Thrupp. Marsh in particular was a handful for visitors with some long runs down that left flank. Jake O’Connor added some zing in the final minutes as the Valley pushed for the match winner, as did hooker Josh Tye with some rampaging runs down the touchlines.

All in all not a good day at the office for THT, it was windy, it was cold, the boys were not quite calibrated on the field, and we lost. Onwards and upwards though, a roady to the East Coast and match day at Ruatoria next week, bring it on!

Thames Valley 14 (C Dromgool, F Morgan tries; Q Collard 2 conversions) lost to Whanganui 17 (try, conversion, 3 penalties). HT 7-3

Disclaimer: The opinions of your despondent correspondent Tighthead Ted are, as usual, his and his alone. They are in no way the views and opinions of the TVRU. Especially when THT delves into the murky ground of not criticising the match officials for not knowing enough about the dark arts of the front rows and rewarding good play. So any complaints, don’t rattle the cage of the union, as they’re so behind on correspondence they’re still answering congratulation letters from the 1962 win over Australia (incidentally, a 16-14 scoreline also), so you’ll get a reply in about 2080.

Other Heartland Results:
South Canterbury 33 beat King Country 19
Horowhenua Kapiti 14 lost to Mid Canterbury 39
Buller 17 lost to West Coast 20
North Otago 18 lost to East Coast 24
Poverty Bay 24 lost to Wairarapa Bush 39

Current Standings

Pos.		P	W	D	L	PF	PA	TF	TA	TB	LB	+/-	BP	PTS	Form
1	South Canterbury	4	4	0	0	180	106	27	15	4	0	74	4	20	WWWW
2	Whanganui	4	3	0	1	190	94	28	14	3	1	96	4	16	LWWW
3	Mid Canterbury	4	3	0	1	137	108	18	16	2	0	29	2	14	WWLW
4	Thames Valley	4	3	0	1	98	73	12	6	1	1	25	2	14	WWWL
5	Ngati.Porou.East.Coast	4	3	0	1	88	75	11	7	1	1	13	2	14	LWWW
6	West Coast	4	2	0	2	105	122	14	16	2	1	-17	3	11	WLLW
7	Horowhenua Kapiti	4	2	0	2	89	109	10	16	0	1	-20	2	10	WLWL
8	King Country	4	1	0	3	118	113	14	14	2	2	5	4	8	LWLL
9	North Otago	4	1	0	3	116	83	17	10	1	2	33	3	7	LLWL
10	Wairarapa Bush	4	1	0	3	114	199	16	30	2	0	-85	2	6	LLLW
11	Buller	4	1	0	3	64	176	7	25	0	1	-112	1	5	WLLL
12	Poverty Bay	4	0	0	4	106	147	16	21	3	1	-41	4	4	LLLL