Season of what could have been

Matatū finished their Super Rugby Aupiki season third with two wins from their six games. Kayla Hodge takes a look at where the season got away from the defending champions, and highlights who stood up when it counted.

THE OIL

It was a season of what could have been for Matatū.

They lost their opening four games of their campaign and were suddenly out of contention to defend their title. But they played some champagne rugby over the final two weeks — and forced the Super Rugby final to be played in Auckland, thanks to beating Chiefs Manawa on Saturday — to leave people wondering where this team had been in the opening rounds.

Matatū retained over 70% of their squad from last season, and if you had looked at their squad on paper at the start of the year, you would have said they looked a fair chance of retaining their title.

Head coach Whitney Hansen made the step up from assistant and came with a promising CV from her time with the World Cup-winning Black Ferns.

Captain Alana Bremner, Georgia Ponsonby, Lucy Jenkins, Amy du Plessis, Rosie Kelly and others had all come off some big minutes for the Black Ferns and stepped up against the northern hemisphere nations.

But they just really struggled to gel in those opening rounds, coughed up the ball too much and were unable to immediately fix those issues, and ultimately, it left them on the back foot early.

BEST GAME

You could sense the freedom Matatū played with set them up for their 37-17 win over the Hurricanes Poua in round five.

Whether it was knowing they could not defend their title any more or not, Matatū were simply outstanding that day. They outclassed the Poua in every aspect and scored some lovely tries in the process in front of their home crowd.

Avenging their worst game against the Chiefs Manawa last weekend as well was rather nice. If only there were a couple more weeks of the regular season, who knows where this team could have been?

WORST GAME

The 38-22 loss to the Chiefs Manawa was a tough watch considering Matatū had every chance to win after the momentum swung their way early in the second half. But Manawa did what they do best and tucked hooker Luke Connor into the back of their maul to score.

Matatū just had no answer for Manawa’s attack, and it was a good lesson in needing to fix those mistakes straight away.

TOP THREE PLAYERS

Grace Brooker

The blockbusting second five dispatches defenders, makes the important breaks and helps put her team in the right places time and time again. Brooker puts in some big hits on defence and gives it her all every week. Appears to have all the time in the world with the ball and that is a sign of a classy individual. Her combination with Amy du Plessis has to be one of the best midfield duos in the competition.

Kaipo Olsen-Baker

Without a doubt, the pick-up of the season for Matatū. Her inclusion meant there was a lot of tinkering in that loose forward trio, but Olsen-Baker was unstoppable when she was at her best. Robust ball carrier, unbeatable over the ball at the ruck and made everyone lift around her. Deserves another look from Black Ferns selectors now that she is injury-free.

Georgia Ponsonby

The Black Ferns hooker sometimes dips under the radar, but Ponsonby seldom plays a bad game. Scored some important tries to start Matatū off right in the last two games and showed the breadth of her game, from her set piece accuracy to agility to run the ball. Teamed up well with Black Ferns team-mates Amy Rule, who had another big season at scrum time, and Pip Love for a world-class front row.