Tukapa go back to back in Taranaki rugby

Adrian Wyrill saved the day for Tukapa scoring when time was well and truly up to help Tukapa win back-to-back Taranaki premier club rugby titles beating Coastal 17-14.

Before Wyrill’s patient effort, Tukapa were camped inside Coastal’s 22m area for 10 minutes pounding away at the line phase after phase trailing by 17-10.

At this point Coastal were a man down as flanker Blake Barrett was yellow carded for slowing the ball down close to the line. Tukapa elected to take a scrum and Wyrill was able to squeeze between the defence to score which was welcomed by great celebration from the players and a strong crowd.

Played in front of a large crowd at Yarrow Stadium and in perfect conditions, the entire match was an arm wrestle and the breakdown fiercely contested but the backlines didn’t take any risks meaning it was quite a conservative game of rugby.

That was expected though and Coastal were favourites heading into the game as they had beaten Tukapa twice in the round robin.

Tukapa’s Jayson Potroz missed 12 points off the boot in the first half and could have been leading well earlier in the game but it was Coastal who got the first points on the board.

After a poor line out throw for Tukapa, Coastal pounced on a loose ball and spun it wide for Rick McKenna to score in the corner. McKenna missed the conversion but was able to slot a penalty before the break.

It was then Tukapa’s turn to show us what they could do as winger Liam Ward was put into space to score in the corner from depth. Potroz, who also claimed the top point’s scorer at the end of the regular season, then found his rhythm and slotted the conversion from the sideline for the score to be 8-7 at the break.

There wasn’t too much to talk about in the second half as the only other points came off the boot of Potroz and McKenna before Wyrill’s try.

Ward was almost in again this time in the opposite corner after a kick and chase but the ball was well grounded beyond the deadball line and the officials came back for a penalty.

Tukapa’s Louis Duffels des Forges was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle with 20 minutes to play, but luckily for him, that didn’t affect the score or game.

There were a few decent breaks from both teams as the second half went on before the relentless pressure by Tukapa paid off in the end with Wryill able to score with time well up.

Tukapa 17 (Liam Ward, Adrian Wyrill tries; Jayson Potroz 2 cons, pen)

Coastal 14 (Rick McKenna try; McKenna 3 pens). 
HT: 7-8