Tahu, McMeniman fire for Australia A in losing side
Roar Guru By Adrian Warren, 7 Jul 2008
- Tagged:
- Australia A, Hugh McMeniman, Mark Gerrard, Pacific Nations Cup, Phil Mooney, Rugby Union, Super Rugby, Timana Tahu
Recovering stars Timana Tahu and Hugh McMeniman produced powerhouse performances, but couldn’t prevent Australia A suffering a heartbreaking 21-18 loss to New Zealand Maori in their Pacific Nations Cup rugby decider at Sydney Football Stadium.
The Australians came agonisingly close to securing the draw which would have earned them their first PNC title but Mark Gerrard’s last-minute, 45-metre penalty dipped under the crossbar.
The Maori grabbed the win and the title when flanker Thomas Waldrom crossed the line with less then three minutes remaining and completed a hat-trick of tries from the visitors back row.
Inside centre Tahu and reserve backrower McMeniman each enhanced their Tri Nations selection prospects.
Tahu, who missed much of the Waratahs Super campaign scored both of Australia’s tries and frequently tested the Maori defence with his dazzling footwork.
Reds forward McMeniman, who also missed a large chunk of the Super tournament, followed up his cameo in last night’s Test against France, with a eye catching second half performance off the bench today.
Australia led 7-0 early through Tahu’s first try, but Maori held a 14-7 advantage at the break after converted tries to flanker Tanerau Latimer and number eight and captain Liam Messam.
Gerrard kicked two penalties to bring the Australians within one point and Tahu gave them the lead on the hour, when he squeezed through two defenders.
“Tahu described his toughest representative rugby game yet as a `tester’,” Tahu said.
“They were rushing out of a line and I think they just didn’t really care whether I got the ball and tried to do something, they were just out to try and bash me.
“Playing with that sort of pressure, it was actually good.”
Injury prone McMeniman said he had never played games on successive days before and his fitness and confidence had been boosted by his three A team appearances.
“You build confidence and of course your fitness. Usually it takes me about three Super 14 games to be right in the swing of things, so with three A games, I’m definitely on the way,” McMeniman said.
McMeniman and Tahu each earned praise from A coach Phil Mooney who described the dramatic defeat as “a game of lost opportunities”.
“We really gifted them 14 points at the back end of the (first) half and worked really well in the second half to get ourselves into a position from where we probably should have shut the game out,” Mooney said.
“But in the end we just weren’t quite good enough.”
Maori coach Donny Stevenson described his team’s tournament victory as `huge’.
“This is a new rivalry with Australia and its one that’s not going to go away,” Stevenson said.
“We got out to a bit of a lead and I never got complacent because we were putting ourself under so much pressure in terms of retaining the ball and you do that against a team like Australia A and you are going to get punished and we very nearly did.”
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July 7th 2008 @ 2:19pm
mudskipper said | July 7th 2008 @ 2:19pm | Report comment
Ben C… On the Ref… being the sad rugby fanatic I am I watched it again on FOX last night… to see what the ref was on about half the time. Some calls made more sense like the penalty against Kimlin checking a kicker late in the second half. Which I must say was a big mistake as the kick was easily covered by Gerrard. This penalty gave the Maori the ball on the Australia A’s 30 metre line ending several plays later with the final try, Kimlin will learn I hope.
However many of the other penalties such as for not releasing the ball were just over zealous referring. There was one penalty where Mitchell was penalised for holding and the ball was already out on the other side of the ruck and Sheenan’s hands. He ordered a Maori scrum…Similar was after Turinui’s big run second half and he penalised Salvi for coming flopping in over the top as the ball was leaving the ruck and there were no NZ players.
I think the Ref was trying a bit too hard. Want can you say Pacific Nations Refs have to have a chance to grow professionally as well…
July 7th 2008 @ 2:32pm
mudskipper said | July 7th 2008 @ 2:32pm | Report comment
True Tah…
A little pricey I agree with $91 dollars tickets (CAT A 1 adult + 1 Child) plus $20 parking and few dollars in the kiosk all adds up. It cost me $150 for two hours entertain with my young son.
I did enjoy it, to see my young son waving his Wallabies flag was priceless. However for ARU administrators reading this blog, you should be able to do it all for under $100. Many of the cheap seat people moved around after kick-off anyway to Cat A seating.
July 7th 2008 @ 3:14pm
Ben C said | July 7th 2008 @ 3:14pm | Report comment
Mudskipper
The ref seemed to have the view that the ball should be released by the time your feel the first blades of grass brush your torso. He seemed to penalise (both teams) for holding on before the player’s momentum in the tackle had even run down. I suppose we complain that all we want is consistency from referees and he was consistently bad each way.
I recorded the match as well as going. I was going to watch it again to try and make sense of the refereeing but the several beers consumed at the match took their toll. I will have to watch it tonight and see if any of it makes sense. I am not holding my breath.