Bodies on the line

OUT OF REACH: Waikohu’s Jarryd Broughton (left) and Toru Noanoa can’t quite reach Keanu Taumata as he bursts through a maul and sprints to the line unopposed to score the winning try. Picture by Paul Rickard

Tiny White Opening Day has always been about passion, pride and good hard Poverty Bay club rugby.

On Saturday, three OBM forwards — loosehead prop Lance Dickson, lock Juston Allen and No.8 Gabe Te Kani — took that club steel to the nth degree in preventing Waikohu reserve tighthead prop Jarryd Broughton from scoring in referee’s time and so preserve an epic 20-17 win over the defending champions.

YMP had earlier impressed with a 46-25 victory over HSOB at Te Karaka Domain, YMP openside flanker Niko Lauti winning the coveted Tiny White medal for the best player in Week 1 of Civil Project Solutions premier rugby.

“We congratulate Waikohu on doing a tremendous job as hosts, after a two-year wait, and both games were played in fantastic spirit,” said Poverty Bay Rugby chairman Hayden Swann.

Enterprise Cars OBM captain hooker Rikki Terekia acknowledged the significance of their win.

“It was brilliant to see our boys put their bodies on the line and show the heart to hold out, against strong opposition,” he said.

“Our goal is to have fun this year — something we’ve been achieving off the field — so it was good to see the boys having fun on the field as well.”

The playing surface was well-grassed and firm, with a good-natured crowd of 1100 in attendance.

Waikohu captain first-five Tane McGuire opened the scoring with a try in the sixth minute. From a tap-kick taken by their No.8 Tristan Morten 8m into OBM territory, 10m off the right touch, hosts Waikohu spread the ball quickly to the left. They came back towards the midfield, lock James Rutene made headway before he lost his footing, and second-five Adrian Wyrill cleared right to McGuire. McGuire kept going right, centreground, then cut back by three would-be tacklers with strong footwork to score 15m to the left of the posts.

Minus the conversion, Waikohu led 5-0 until the 12th minute. From a lineout 6m from halfway, right sideline, Terekia found Te Kani jumping at three. The ball went left from halfback Blake Crosby through Jake Holmes at first-five to Allen, who charged down the middle of the park from 22 to 22. Referee Isaac Hughes subsequently awarded OBM a penalty at the ruck and Holmes kicked a penalty goal for OBM 3, Waikohu 5.

At the 16-minute mark, 17m off the left sideline, 45m from the home team’s posts, Holmes landed his second penalty goal for 6-5 to the visitors. That remarkable kick stunned all present — delighting segments of the crowd, miffing others.

OBM enjoyed good field position, assured of winning their own lineout ball by Carrizo and Te Kani during this period. Twenty minutes into the game, Terekia — awarded a short-arm penalty 14m off the right touch, 8m from the Waikohu goal-line — chose to tap-kick the ball. He steamed and spun in to score 5m in from the near corner.

Holmes converted for 13-5, the state of play at the break.

Waikohu’s willing ball-carriers ran hard at OBM’s well-set defensive line, and as late as the 40th minute — from 10m inside OBM territory — they recycled the ball nine times to make 15m before OBM centre Braedyn Grant drove right-wing Bavai Seremaia into touch.

During that long sequence, OBM openside flanker Keanu Taumata buddied up with Dickson to floor Waikohu loosehead prop Toru Noanoa in a memorable do-or-die tackle. Noanoa and Taumata won their teams’ respective Most Valuable Player awards and never relented in a clean yet shudderingly physical game.

Waikohu tighthead prop Tulsa Kaui made metres every time he touched the ball — equally, OBM blindside flanker Evan Bryant looked for work and let no runner escape him.

Forty-five minutes in, Thorn Parkes replaced Crosby: both were kept honest by Waikohu player-coach Ra Broughton, against whom no halfback can afford a lapse in concentration.

Broughton was on hand to follow the play with Wyrill, Noanoa, Morten and Rutene’s locking partner Shaun Ward during Waikohu’s first sustained surge of the second half. In the 53rd minute, the home team came within a hair’s breadth of cracking OBM out wide, when from centreground, halfway, Waikohu fullback Kelvin Smith floated a kick right-side for replacement winger KC Wilson.

But for OBM vice-captain fullback Scott McKinley’s tackle on Wilson (who had done well to pick the ball up, it having bounced twice), Wilson might have scored. Smith had received the clearing pass from Broughton and Smith’s creativity is legend.

In the 61st minute, Hughes — having played advantage to Waikohu on OBM’s goal line — gave Holmes a yellow card for off-side play. Four minutes later, Waikohu were again given a penalty 5m from their opponents’ goal line 8m to the right of the posts: two phases later, powerhouse reserve blindside flanker Semisi Tagivetaua flew low to score 8m to the right of the posts. Smith’s conversion drew Waikohu within striking distance: OBM led 13-12 at that stage.

Enter Waikohu’s giant reserve anchor Broughton, who made his presence felt with a strong carry and then a pulverising cover-tackle on OBM reserve left-wing Livinai Drakula. The hosts, reinvested, took the lead back in the 69th minute: they won an attacking midfield scrum 9m from OBM’s posts, went left three times, scored 10m in from the left corner through blindside flanker Kupu Lloyd. Waikohu could not convert but were 17-13 in front.

Holmes having returned to the fray, OBM had to move quickly and struck in the 79th minute. On the left sideline, Waikohu’s 22, Terekia found Te Kani at four in the line-out and seconds later, Taumata burst through the maul to score unopposed 15m in from the left corner. Holmes converted for 20-17.

Waikohu came back with everything they had: Wilson hit a long pass on the fly and took on five cover defenders in his effort to score. The Lee Brothers Shield holders, 12m in from the left touch, 10m from glory, were awarded a penalty at the last. They chose to tap and go: Wyrill, then finally Broughton ploughed the road to and over the goal-line but Hughes’ ruling was that the ball had not been grounded.

Broughton felt that Waikohu didn’t string phases together and made mistakes which cost his side dearly. McGuire said: “OBM played well and we didn’t execute as we’d trained to, but there were positives: the performance of our tight five, Jacob (centre Jacob Leaf) carried the ball, Toru and Adrian (second-five Adrian Wyrill) both tackled hard.”

OBM tried hard last season but chose Tiny White Opening Day to play with sufficient purpose, organisation and — overall — discipline to produce their best rugby since winning the 2019 grand final. The only side not to be involved (Larsawn Ngatapa, having a bye) are primed to get stuck in against OBM at Paddy’s Park, Patutahi Domain next weekend.

Followers of CPS premier rugby will recognise the enormity of this result, without forgetting also how well YMP played in their 46-25 victory over a willing HSOB crew.

Poverty Bay Rugby CEO Josh Willoughby had reason to be pleased with the day: “The crowd was treated to a couple of great games — both had moments of pressure and intensity — but our referees did a fine job of managing that.

“This was a great start to our 2021 club season — the results have created genuine excitement for the second week.”

A report on Farm Vets YMP’s 46-25 victory over Contract Consultants High School Old Boys will follow.