Missed penalty helps Taranaki beat Auckland for first time in six years

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Taranaki hooker Ricky Riccitelli scored one of his team’s two tries against Auckland in New Plymouth on Saturday night.

At Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth: Taranaki 18 (Ricky Riccitelli, Tom Florence tries; Jayson Potroz con, pen, Josh Jacomb pen) Auckland 16 (Salesi Rayasi try; Zarn Sullivan 3 pen, con). HT: 12-16

You will find fewer gutsier wins than Taranaki’s first over Auckland since 2017.

A horror injury toll, a foul old night in New Plymouth, and some good fortune, was the name of the game as Taranaki bagged an all-important 18-16 win to enhance their chances of hosting a quarterfinal.

Already ravaged by the unavailability of players, Taranaki lost four more – Brayton Northcott-Hill, Reuben O’Neill, Logan Crowley and Vereniki Tikoisolomone – to injury at a soggy Yarrow Stadium.

But it mattered not. Replacement Josh Jacomb drilled a tricky penalty goal in the 66th minute to score the go-ahead points, before the hosts held on grimly.

They survived a series of anxious moments down the stretch, none bigger than a last minute Zarn Sullivan penalty attempt, after Auckland melted Taranaki’s scrum.

Sullivan dragged the kick wide-right, before coming up short with a last-ditch drop goal attempt moments later.

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Auckland’s Zarn Sullivan missed a potential match-winning penalty at the death against Taranaki.

Boasting identical 5-3 records headed into the slug fest, Taranaki powered into third place behind Canterbury on the ladder, while sixth-placed Auckland look set to play sudden-death rugby on the road in a fortnight.

In addition to ruing the loss of Adrian Choat to a shoulder injury in the third minute of the match, Auckland will bemoan their inability to muster a single point in the second half.

Led by the superb kicking games of Sullivan and fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, they had repeatedly turned the hosts around in the driving rain with good reward.

While Taranaki rake Ricky Riccitelli opened the scoring via a rolling maul just seven minutes into the game, Auckland soon seized the initiative and rolled to a 16-3 lead after 27 minutes.

They were all over the hosts, and even scored a slick try via wing Salesi Rayasi, who wrapped around midfielder Bryce Heem and slid over out wide in his 50th game.

But he wasn’t the only one to score in his 50th. Taranaki flanker Tom Florence matched his feat, only he smashed his way over after opting for the pick-and-go method just before the halftime break.

That wasn’t the only key play Florence made. It was he who timed his tackle to perfection on replacement halfback Taufa Funaki, which led to the all-important penalty for Jacomb to slot.

Zarn Sullivan could barely put a foot wrong in the first half, nailing three penalties and a conversion, and also converting a 50/22 shortly before Rayasi scored.

But he’ll be filthy he couldn’t bang over a penalty from about 35 metres with a minute to play.

4/10. Persistent, heavy rain made for lousy conditions for rugby. To be fair, both teams handled them relatively well in the first half, before it got mighty ugly down the stretch.

Florence was exceptional in the wet. He was everywhere, highlighted by scoring a try, and hammering Funaki at the back of a maul as he went to box-kick. It was that play that led to the match-winning penalty.

The equation is simple for Taranaki. Beat North Harbour in New Plymouth next weekend and they’ll finish in the top-four.

As for Auckland, who host Northland at Eden Park, they’ll need a big win, and plenty of help, if they’re to host playoff rugby.