Rugby: Taranaki sent strong statement in NPC

NZ Sports Wire 

Defending champions Taranaki have sent a warning to the rest of the National Provincial Championship (NPC).

Taranaki carved up Hawke's Bay at Napier's McLean Park on Friday night in a repeat of the 2023 NPC final to open Round 7, running in nine converted tries, with wing Kini Naholo scoring a hat-trick.

The three tries by Naholo, plus another six from the remainder of his team contributed to a record nine for the Naki side.

Taranaki captain Kaylum Boshier said the scoreline didn’t reflect the match.

“It certainly didn’t feel like it out there,” he told Sky Sport after the match. “I know Hawke’s Bay would be hurting after last week and we knew we had to come out firing and we were happy to take that many tries. The way we held onto the ball at times was really pleasing.”

He said the forwards stepped up compared to last week’s loss against Bay of Plenty.

The number of injuries to Taranaki would be a concern for coach Neil Barnes. Boshier said he didn’t know the extend of the injuries.

“That’s the beauty of this sport, you’re going to get injuries along the way and for our team it’s next man up and we have that trust in everyone in the squad, even players that come in for us.”

For Taranaki the win moves them up to fifth on the points table while the loss for Hawke's Bay was their third in a row.

The victory was the perfect way for Taranaki to start their 'Storm Week', with winnable matches coming at home against North Harbour on Wednesday (kick-off 7.05pm) and Manawatu next Sunday (kick-off 4.35pm), while the Magpies will look to end their losing streak at home against Auckland next Saturday (kick-off 2.05pm).

Taranaki 63 (Kini Naholo 3, Bradley Slater 2, Vereniki Tikoisolomone 2, Ricky Riccitelli, Adam Lennox tries; Josh Jacomb 6 con, Jayson Potroz con, Ethan Reti 2 con) Hawke's Bay 19 (Tom Parsons, Sam Smith, Lelani Faleiva tries; Lincoln McClutchie 2 con). HT: 28-12.