TRIUMPHANT TAROONA DENY QUINS PREMIERSHIP
The Taroona Penguins have claimed the 2012 Tasmanian Rugby Union premiership beating the Hobart Harlequins 18-17 in a close encounter at Rugby Park in Hobart on Saturday. Strong winds created challenging conditions but discipline was the greatest challenge of the day.
Referee Grant Rogers started the day by speaking to both teams regarding his expectations for the next 80 minutes, it took only two minutes for Harlequins centre Jamon Starcovic to be yellow carded for punching in a tackle.
Down to 14 players Harlequins had to defend their line against Taroona who had the wind behind them. Taroona laboured to lead 6-0 through two Christo Le Grange penalties. They were unable to stem regular stoppages through handling errors or ineffective positioning in the tackle, particularly through running wide lines onto the ball in the backs.
Taroona’s tight five managed to set some promising early phases on the fringe of breakdowns, but were denied a try to Rob Holmes by good defence from Quins fullback Matt Mitchell. Holmes more than made amends by leaving his wing to deny Sunia Ma’afu minutes later as the Harlequins skipper made several telling surges.
In the last moments of the first half Starcovic was penalised again and shown a red card. After turning to walk off the field he turned to strike a Taroona player, the resultant melee ending the first half.
Taroona had to re-group at the break to protect their lead into the gale. This was achieved within 6 minutes as centre Jeremy Climie ran onto a beautiful offload from veteran fullback Chris Noble and took the score to 11-0.
Quins struck back via a close range try to scrum-half Fale Atileo and he also executed a clever kick to drive Quins back into the Penguins’ quarter for lock Luke Brooks to crash over in traffic. Fly half Dave Wouleman converted and Quins led 12-11. Taroona replied swiftly with a half-break from fly-half Andy Ryan to send Noble over again, working hard to bust through a tackle from Ma’afu, with the conversion restoring a five-point buffer 18-12.
Both teams struggled to build continuity and Holmes nearly scored working the last channel but lost the ball at the line through a great lunging cover tackle by Quins’ Sid Fielea. Harlequins’ recovery was swift and a long kick from Wouleman allowed several rucks deep in Taroona’s defensive zone, with Ma’afu surging back under several tackles to plant the ball. The conversion presented the chance to put Quins in front, but it stayed wide, the score stayed at 18-17 with two minutes to play. Taroona stayed composed and controlled the game until time went when the ball was kicked out.
Harlequins mentor Colin Fielea said his side had persevered after a slow start and he was proud of their efforts for two-thirds of the match with 14 men. The presence of Ma’afu, direction of Atileo and dogged defence of hooker Vaha Afa rated highly in the Quins camp.
Taroona’s coach David Whyte said that preparation was the key to Taroona’s success, “we’ve had a strong, focused group of players who have trained together since February. And it shows with only two losses this year.” He recognised the efforts of his pack and the defensive excellence of centres Climie and Christo Le Grange as vital in the win.
Taroona 18 (J Climie, C Noble tries; C Le Grange 2 penalties, conversion) def Harlequins 17 (F Atileo, L Brooks, S Ma’afu tries; D Wouleman conversion).
Earlier games
Reserve Grade: Taroona 29 def University 5
Under 18’s: Launceston 25 def Hutchins 14
Under 16’s: Launceston 19 def Taroona 10
