League youngsters in the spotlight at Ruben Wiki Cup

Waicoa Bay defenders Matthew Letoga (left) and Te Rautau Ihaka Rameka tackle a New Zealand Warriors U18 player. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Two Waicoa Bay age group sides had to give second best to Warriors Invitational sides in the first round of the Ruben Wiki Cup at Rotorua International Stadium yesterday.

The six-team pre-season competition is played over five rounds at under-16 and under-18 level.

The Waicoa Bay under-16 side went down 42-18 and the under-18s 46-16. Both games were played under the watchful eye of Warriors recruitment and development officer, former Kiwi Tony Iro.

While the players in the Warriors Invitational teams are being looked at from a development and recruitment perspective, so are those playing for their zones in the competition, so Iro was watching all the players on show on Saturday.

"In this competition, all our prospective boys become available for their zones first," he said.

"We get a lot of kids we want to have a look at who are on the fringe of our development squad and have the potential to be contracted and we want to see how they go against some of the better kids around the country - so I'm looking at both teams definitely."

Conditions at the International Stadium did not promote open, running play.

"Considering the conditions - it was pretty wet underfoot - I think they held the ball pretty well. I think our boys, especially the under-16s, I don't think we made a mistake in the first half and that allowed us to get away from the Waicoa boys.

"I was particularly pleased with that. In the 16s game, Waicoa came back really strongly and scored three tries really quickly and our boys were under the pump.

"If they'd scored next I think the result would have been a little bit different, but we got a couple of lucky bounces of the ball and momentum swung back to us again.

"For the 18s, it was very similar. Waicoa were probably guilty of making a couple of mistakes in their own half early and our boys got on a little bit of a roll."

Upper Central Zone general manager Mel Bennett said the two losses meant the sides now had to win the rest of their games in the competition to be in with a realistic chance of
making the final on March 25.

It is the first time Waicoa Bay teams have been included in the competition.

She said playing in front of selectors and people like Iro was good exposure for the players.

"It provides a pathway because it's not like our kids have to travel to Australia any more because they are going to get seen in this competition by selectors. It's an amazing opportunity to get this level of competition this early in the season.

"It also means that, while they usually rest over summer, they will be going into their club footy really fit and be ready for rep footy and the youth nationals, that will be in Rotorua, later on in the year."

The Waicoa Bay sides play Akarana in Hamilton next weekend before two weekends of games in Auckland against Counties Manukau and Northland. The final game will be against Auckland Vulcans back in Hamilton.

"I'm pleased with the logistics side of it today," said Bennett. "We'd like to have got the wins, but the Warriors are a class side, getting their players from all over the place, not just Auckland. It's going to be a really good competition and I am pleased that we've been able to get them in it."