A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Saturday, May 13: The wet, windy conditions ensured problems for the backs and a tough forward battle. The Hikurangi backs, fed by halfback Kahu Ward and first five-eighth Haki Waihape, handled the conditions better than their opponents in the first half, with fewer misdirected passes and missed catches.
The crowd settled down to enjoy a good game between two of the competition’s top teams. After 10 minutes Kris Palmer kicked a penalty to score Hikurangi’s first points.
Then Tokararangi went on to attack and spent the next 10 minutes close to the Hikurangi line. They were rewarded when hooker Tani Waitoa went over for a try between the posts. Wharekae Henare kicked the conversion.
This prompted the Hikurangi forwards into action and there were several impressive individual runs. The most spectacular was when the biggest man on the paddock, Wiremu Brown, used every kilogram to power his way 20 metres through the Tokararangi team — unfazed by several players hanging off him.
The Hikurangi pressure was rewarded by a try to Tanetoa Parata just before halftime. The conversion by Kris Palmer made it 10-7 to Hikurangi at halftime.
A Tokararangi penalty soon after the break looked as if it would even the score, until it hit the crossbar and bounced back into play. Hikurangi went back on attack and dominated the rest of the half, with their backs putting together some useful attacking moves.
Tokararangi burst through several times and, after 25 minutes, came close to scoring. Then Hikurangi centre Tanetoa Parata scored his second try of the game, closely followed by his third.
Right at the end, Don Mill scored a try, unconverted, for Tokararangi.
Hikurangi 20 (Tanetoa Parata 3 tries; Kris Palmer con, pen).
Tokararangi 12 (Tani Waitoa, Don Mill tries; Wharekae Henare con).
Another close oneThere was another close game at Tokomaru Bay, where Ruatoria City beat Tawhiti 15-10.
City had come off a three-week spell and were a bit rusty to start with, playing into the wind in the first half.
However, Roha Dalton-Reedy scored two tries, with the reliable Tim Barbarich kicking a conversion and a penalty.
“Tawhiti have been through a lot of reshuffling this season and this game was the first time we had the first-choice backs combination,” Tawhiti co-coach Damon Bellamy said.
“Up-and-coming Devonte Martin normally plays at centre, but he played first five-eighth and scored a try.
“Horace Lewis and Jason Keelan were the pillars of a forward pack who dominated. However, simple mistakes made the difference and cost us the game.”
Ruatoria City 15 (Roha Dalton-Reedy 2 tries; Tim Barbarich con, pen).
Tawhiti 10 (Devonte Martin, Jason Keelan tries).
Hicks Bay v Tolaga BayHicks Bay travelled to Tolaga Bay on a mission on Saturday and came away with a 32-10 win and bonus point from their game against Uawa.
Uawa are running second in the competition after a strong season, but nothing went well for them on the day. By halftime, Hicks Bay had scored 15 points to Uawa’s 0.
The visitors’ first try went to Frank Taiapa after a penalty that Hicks Bay elected to kick to touch for the lineout. This resulted in a good forward drive and a pushover try, converted by Ire Noanoa.
The next Hicks Bay try was scored by lock Brady Hue, and Ire Noanoa slotted a penalty before the break.
It was Hicks Bay dominance at scrum time and in the lineouts that took the game away from Uawa. Uawa had a couple of penalty opportunities to stay in touch with Hicks Bay in the first half but elected to take the lineout option.
Uawa had attacking opportunities and at times were camped on the Hicks Bay line but the defence was solid and snuffed out any chance Uawa might have had to put first-half points on the board.
In the second half, Uawa’s Ryan Anderson scored a try from a well-placed cross-kick by Jesse Saywell. Anderson collected under pressure from the defence and went over the line to score in the corner.
For the last 10 minutes of the game Uawa were on attack inside the Hicks Bay 22 when the defenders kicked the ball deep into Uawa territory. The resulting race saw Hicks Bay score their final try for the game. It was not converted and Joe Coleman blew the whistle for fulltime.
Hicks Bay 32 (Frank Taiapa, Brady Hue, Sean Murtagh, Beau Posimani, Hona Delamere tries. Reihana Moeke (2), Ire Noanoa con, pen).
Uawa 10 (Ryan Anderson, Sam Parkes tries).
Representative coach Willie Waitoa said he was impressed with the healthy nature of the East Coast club competition this year.
“It has been fairly even, and I’m happy with the calibre of the players,” he said.
The East Coast representative squad will begin their build-up to the Heartland competition with a camp at Tolaga Bay on August 1 and 2. There will also be warm-up games against Eastern Bay of Plenty and Thames Valley.
The first Heartland competition game will be at 2.30pm on August 22 against Poverty Bay at Whakarua Park, Ruatoria.