After trailing 8-0 to the Chiefs Manawa at halftime, Matatū produced an entertaining second half to run away with a 31-25 win in Hamilton this afternoon.
Centre Amy du Plessis was her usual hard running self and was rewarded with two tries.
First five Hannah King, on debut for the Matatū, showed she could well be the signing of the season.
She put them in the right parts of the park, directed traffic and most importantly was accurate with the boot.
Matatū lost their opening four games of the 2024 season, so head coach Whitney Hansen will be pleased with their start.
Matatū started with a hiss when halfback Maia Joseph banged a 50-22.
But Manawa’s defence was strong and Matatū were unable to make anything from their early possession.
Penalties and errors mounted for both teams throughout the first half, with knock-ons, balls dropped dead and turnovers stunting any real flow in a frustrating opening half.
Eventually, Manawa struck first.
Matatū had some wobbles at scrum time, with the Black Ferns front row penalised for collapsing.
Manawa, who were their own worst enemy with their handling in the opening 20 minutes, then coughed possession up again.
Matatū’s scrum was again shunted back, with Chiefs prop Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakelelu putting in a big shift up front on debut.
They turned the ball over 5m out from Manawa’s line. Second five Kelly Brazier, making a welcome return to rugby union from the sevens circuit, shifted it out to winger Ruby Tui to finish off.
Manawa lead 5-0 after 21 minutes.
Neither team really made much from their set piece and the error count continued to rise.
Renee Holmes slotted a penalty to extend Manawa’s lead 8-0 at halftime.
Matatū took all of 45 seconds to finally get on the board in the second half.
King spotted a gap and shimmed through, putting an inside ball to lock Laura Bayfield who finished off under the sticks.
King added the extras for Matatū to trail 8-7, but Manawa bounced back.
Brazier’s put Mererangi Paul into space up the middle. She shifted it out to winger Reese Anderson to finish in the corner.
Holmes converted to extend to a 15-7 lead.
Matatū fullback Kaea Nepia opened up Manawa’s defence on debut.
She got the legs pumping, dragging several players with her and offloaded a lovely ball to Winnie Palamo to score.
They closed the gap to 15-14.
Matatū looked like they had switched on for the second half, making the most of their opportunities and had some nice heads up play.
That came in the form of Joseph, who produced a great line ball for du Plessis to charge on to and score.
King made no mistake and put Matatū in front for the first time, leading 21-15. She extended that again with a penalty.
Manawa had to wait until the 67th minute before they could finally break Matatū’s defence.
Black Ferns captain Kennedy Tukuafu (nee Simon), with No 8 Mia Anderson on her back, charged through the defence and slammed over.
Holmes pushed the conversion wide for Manawa to trail 24-20.
Matatū kept the ball alive, offloading in contact before big prop Moomooga Palu shrugged off Manawa’s defenders.
She came up just short, but the ball was recycled and du Plessis went over – but it was ruled a knock on by the TMO.
Matatū held on to the ball through an advantage and their forwards rolled their sleeves up, picking and going at the line.
Not to be denied a second time, du Plessis scored and King’s boot extended Matatū’s lead to 31-20.
Tui scored a consolation try to finish 31-25.
Matatu 31 (Amy du Plessis 2, Laura Bayfield, Winnie Palamo, tries; Hannah King 4, cons; King pen 1)
Chiefs Manawa 25 (Ruby Tui 2, Reese Anderson, Kennedy Tukuafu, tries; Renee Holmes 1 con; Holmes 1 pen)
Halftime: Manawa 8-0.
