Taranaki thrashed by Bay of Plenty

“We weren’t good enough.”

Taranaki Bulls captain Mitch Brown summed up the team’s performance in one sentence after the side was walloped 46-6 by Bay of Plenty in the second round of the Bunnings-NPC on Sunday.

The Chiefs representative said there were plenty of works ons after the loss on Sunday in Tauranga, where Bay of Plenty claimed the Peter Burke Trophy.

Bay of Plenty scored six tries to nil in front of a healthy crowd on a fine afternoon.

The conditions suited Bay of Plenty, who threw the ball out wide willingly.

It seemed when Bay of Plenty had the ball, they made inroads by powering over the advantage line and entering Taranaki’s 22.  

“They were too good,” Brown said to Sky Sport after the match. “We had a pretty inexperienced side out there and we will take out the lessons into next week against Canterbury.”

The inexperience included three players on debut, including Adam Lennox, Michael Loft, who came on inside the opening five minutes because of an injury to lock Stan van den Hoven and replacement back Ethan Reti.

There were several areas where Bay of Plenty out played Taranaki including at set piece. It wasn’t helped when van den Hoven left the field after his knee was twister at a tackle.

Whether it was related or not, their scrum was under pressure for the majority of the match with frequent lineout troubles. The injury isn’t something coach Neil Barnes wanted after fielding a depleted team after injuries in the opening match last weekend against Northland.

Ill-discipline also didn’t help, with Southern’s Jesse Parate guilty of at least two penalties during the game, including a penalty reversal five meters from Bay of Plenty’s try line.

The backline lacked the penetration and pace which served the province so productively in their successful 2021 season.

That aside, New Zealand U20 and Stratford/Eltham halfback Lennox gave an excellent account from fullback. He made plenty of brave runs into the strong Bay of Plenty defence and even made the odd line break.

Brown said the younger players were the “best players out there.”

First-five eighth Jayson Potroz kicked better than he did last week at Pukekura Park with two successful penalties, the only points Taranaki could conjure up.

There was some hope with Teihorangi Walden promising in his first match back for Taranaki this year. He made several runs up the field and was the ingredients the side needed in their first outing last week.

But with the next four games against Canterbury, Wellington, Waikato and Tasman, alarm bells are starting to ring.  

Brown is aware of the schedule to come.

“There are plenty of work ons. We will get back to the drawing board and work something out.”