Forwards lay foundation for Ngatapa win

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

NGATAPA picked up their first win in this season’s premier rugby competition and avenged a first-round 16-14 loss when they beat Pirates 28-8 at Rugby Park last night.

Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates coach Steve Smith offered no excuses, saying, “Ngatapa pretty much outplayed us”.

“They played with passion and commitment right through their team and we didn’t match them.”

Larsawn Ngatapa coach Will Faulks said it (the bonus-point win) was “about time”.

“It’s great to get the monkey off our backs and while we won’t get carried away — it’s only one win — overall it was a good performance,” Faulks said.

The Ngatapa pack laid the foundation for the four-try-to-one victory. Skipper Campbell Chrisp started the game at prop but switched to No.8 when Moses Ma’u went off injured in the 28th minute. Chrisp and flankers Paddy Allen and Matt Dean were outstanding.

Ngatapa dominated the scrums and lineouts and grew in confidence as the game went on.

Halfback Cameron Rowden, in only his third outing at this level, continued to impress with his quick, accurate passes.

But my man of the match was midfield-back-cum-winger Karl Macpherson.

He had a stormer, just shading Allen, who was superb in the lineout, on attack and in defence.

Allen opened the scoring when he charged down a clearing kick to score a try after eight minutes. The conversion attempt failed.

Pirates replyPirates replied five minutes later with a penalty to Carl Riini, making his first appearance of the season.

And in the 18th minute, Pirates right-winger Jordan Matenga gave his side an 8-6 lead when he finished off a move engineered by first five-eighth Junior Akurangi, halfback CJ Fox and No.8 Ken Houkamau.

Back came Ngatapa with a try to Ma’u. Allen won a lineout five metres from the goal-line and Ma’u was driven over by a fired-up pack for a 12-8 halftime lead.

Ngatapa should have stretched the gap in the 41st minute, only for centre Maka Lauti to miss a penalty in front of the posts.

Lauti made up for his lapse four minutes later, when he scored a try after good work from forwards and backs, but he injured his knee in scoring and had to leave the field.

With 25 minutes to go, both teams lost a man to the sin bin — Ngatapa lock Semisi Akana and Pirates replacement first-five TK Moeke.

Moeke stopped Ngatapa winger Calais Collins with a bone-jarring but legal tackle, to which Akana took exception.

A scuffle developed and at the end of it Akana was yellow-carded for — as referee Hamish Campbell put it — “getting involved in something he had no need to” and Moeke was carded for “a swinging arm”.

But there was no stopping Ngatapa. Chrisp bagged the bonus-point try when he barged across after Allen claimed another lineout close to the tryline.

First-five Chris Richardson completed the scoring with a penalty in the 77th minute.

NGATAPA 28 (Paddy Allen, Moses Ma’u, Maka Lauti, Campbell Chrisp tries; Chris Richardson con, pen).

PIRATES 8 (Jordan Matenga try; Carl Riini pen).

HT: 12-8.