Rabbitohs Miss the Mark Against Warriors in NZ - Round Seven, 2012

The South Sydney Rabbitohs will need to improve their defence markedly before round eight of the competition, going down to the New Zealand Warriors 44 points to 22 at Mt Smart Stadium in front of a crowd of 15,378.

The Warriors scored eight tries to four on home turf, and despite Dave Taylor and Andrew Everingham scoring doubles, the Warriors found some defensive lapses in the Rabbitohs' line, particularly on the left hand side, to register a solid win at their home ground.

The Rabbitohs opened the scoring in the fourth minute when second rower Taylor pounced on a pin-point grubber kick by halfback Adam Reynolds. Reynolds converted to establish a six-nil lead.

It did not take long for the Warriors to level the scores, with Lewis Brown scoring in the ninth minute after a bomb was put down close to the Rabbitohs' line. James Maloney converted to level the scores at six-all.

The Warriors scored again four minutes later when Jerome Ropati collected a Shaun Johnson grubber kick behind the line to score.

Tries to Bill Tupou and Simon Mannering in the 23rd and 33rd minutes respectively set up a healthy 20-6 lead for the home side, with Nathan Friend, Johnson and Maloney controlling the game.

The Rabbitohs countered with a try to winger Andrew Everingham in the 37th minute. It was the rookie combination of Reynolds and Everingham striking again, Reynolds dropping in another accurate grubber for Everingham to scoot through and score. Reynolds converted to take the scores to 20-12 in favour of the Warriors at half time.

The Warriors dominated field position and possession in the opening 40 minutes and it was showing on the scoreboard. When the Rabbitohs had some quality field position they were troubling the Warriors and posting points.

Replacement debutant front rower Neccrom Areaiiti had his first touch of the ball in the 48th minute, and the Rabbitohs scored a couple of minutes later.

In the 50th minute, Taylor scored his second try following a 60 metre bust made by Issac Luke and Greg Inglis. The Rabbitohs received a penalty and worked the ball close to the line through centre Matt King. Inglis moved into dummy half and popped a short ball to a steaming Taylor who scored his second try for the afternoon. Reynolds converted to reduce the deficit to just four points.

The Rabbitohs were playing patient football and it seemed to be paying dividends. Luke was starting to run from dummy half and was making some good metres and creating opportunities for his outside backs.

The momentum looked like it was starting to turn but the Warriors' captain Simon Mannering put a stop to that in the 55th minute when he scored his second try for the afternoon. Four minutes later Ben Henry would cross and the ensuing conversions gave the Warriors a 16-point lead with 20 minutes to go.

Everingham pegged four points back in the 65th minute when he scored his second try for the game and his eighth try in the first five NRL games of his career. It was Taylor who set this one up, taking the ball to the line and attracting four defenders before offloading to Everingham who scored. Reynolds converted to take the scores to 32-22.

The Rabbitohs were throwing everything they could at the Warriors but the New Zealanders held strong.

Ukuma Ta'ai scored for the Warriors in the 71st minute after a miracle offload from Russell Packer, and the Warriors sealed the win with a try to Krisnan Inu in the 78th minute after some neat footwork from Johnson.

The Rabbitohs struggled defensively at stages during the game, particularly on the left hand side. Matt King was strong in defence on the right, but the Warriors were able to find the gaps they sought through their right side attack and some raids up the middle.

Everingham has continued his meteoric rise with another try-scoring double today, and Dave Taylor caused problems when running hard on the right edge.

Issac Luke looked his usual dangerous self when he ran the ball and Greg Inglis was able to find some room to move in the second half.

The Rabbitohs will not play next weekend as the NRL competition pauses for the representative weekend, moving on to play the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium on Saturday 28 April at 7:30pm in round eight of the competition.

New Zealand Warriors 44 (Simon Mannering 2, Lewis Brown, Jerome Ropati, Bill Tupou, Ben Henry, Ukuma Ta'ai, Krisnan Inu tries; James Maloney 6 goals)

defeated

South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 (David Taylor 2, Andrew Everingham 2 tries; Adam Reynolds 3 goals)