Taranaki v Manawatu

I know the game has started, so this is irrelevant, but you seem unaware of why things were the way they were so...

Taranaki has another shield defense on the 3rd Oct. against a tougher opponent, so the *theory* behind this line was they wouldn't waste a ton of energy butchering Manawatu given such scheduling. Under the normal sequence of fixtures (at least a week before their next defense) would've seen this line at least 56-7 points higher.

So in essense you were asking the wrong wquestion. It wasn't could the Naki cover 10/11/whatever, it was would they care to given the scheduling they faced. If they get up by 20+ late, they'll pull players early (to save them for the coming fixture) and the backdoor will be open for Manawatu to cover (they lead 28-13 as I type, about 30 mins left)