DAYLIGHT SPOTTED: High School Old Boys forward Tamanui Hill spots a gap and looks to break through the Waikohu defence. Picture by Paul Rickard
RUGBY
HIGH School Old Boys tipped over champions Waikohu, YMP had to come from behind to beat OBM and Ngatapa put away Pirates-GMC in an intriguing opening round of Poverty Bay club rugby.
The six-team premier competition looked fairly even in Round 1 at The Oval in Gisborne on Saturday, despite Larsawn Ngatapa getting the better of Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates-GMC, 52-24.
The other two games were tight contests — HSOB beating Waikohu 36-24 and YMP defeating OBM 29-17.
OBM hosted Tiny White Day, the first round of the Lee Bros Shield, which featured a couple of cracker games on a sunny afternoon.
Fullback Andrew Tauatevalu was terrific for HSOB, bagging three tries, gliding through gaps and constantly presenting an attacking threat.
Tauatevalu was named the Tiny White Medal winner for player of the day. The medal was presented by Ted White, brother of the late Richard (Tiny) White.
Tauatevalu said he was surprised to win the medal.
“Our forwards were doing all the work,” he said.
“We just got lucky out in the backs.”
The backs had a few things go their way, such as a kick in behind the line they were able to regather and score from, but Tauatevalu stood out with his poise.
Waikohu had the better of the first 40 minutes, however, with KC Wilson and Kelvin Smith dotting down.
Waikohu led at halftime Waikohu led at halftime but then HSOB had their purple patch. HSOB were down 17-15 before Manase Tupe collected a kick and dived over for a try.
Soon afterwards, Will Hocquard finished a long-range movement to extend the lead and first five-eighth Baxter Mckay kicked a couple of crucial conversions to give HSOB breathing space.
Behind 29-17, Waikohu weren’t done with yet.
They closed the gap to 29-24 with about 15 minutes to play.
However, HSOB scored next when Tauatevalu coasted in for his hat-trick and they survived a late assault on their goal-line as Waikohu pressed to set up a grandstand finish.
HSOB gave away a series of penalties and had a player sin-binned, but kept their line intact against the relentless late attack from Waikohu.
“They’re a side that never give up,” HSOB coach Scott Leighton said of his opposition.
He was “pretty pleased” with his team’s first-up performance.
“It’s a good start, and there are things to work on, which is positive,” Leighton said.
Things weren’t quite clicking in the first half, he said, but HSOB controlled proceedings better in the second.
“Fletcher Scammell dominated at lineouts,” Leighton said.
Tauatevalu was “unstoppable”.
Waikohu coach Jason Tuapawa said his side seemed to suffer “first-game jitters”.
“HSOB showed more keenness at the start. They’re definitely a force to be reckoned with.”
For Waikohu, Jesse Fleming was strong in the midfield and lock Richard Green “didn’t look out of place”.
Lyndon Manuel was lively at flanker and Geoff Pari was solid up front.
“We had a good scrum and lineout — a good set piece,” Tuapawa said.
YMP finished strong against OBMYMP finished strong against OBM, coming from behind to win 29-17.
“It took us quite a while to get into it,” YMP coach Steve Smith said.
“OBM really took it to us.”
OBM were quick out of the blocks and had the better of the early exchanges.
Smith said YMP were forced to make some changes early on and were led well by Shayde Skudder. Flanker Willis Tamatea and skilful fullback Jayden Milner also stood out.
The game slipped away from OBM when they had a player in the sin bin towards the end.
“We didn’t play the full 80 minutes,” OBM coach Trevor Crosby said.
“YMP stuck to their guns. They took their chances.”
Crosby said OBM’s tight five worked hard and their five-eighths, John Jones and Adrian Wyrill, had their moments.
“We showed a lot of good structure.”
Ngatapa brought up 50 points against the newly formed Pirates-GMC combination, although the final score didn’t reflect how even much of the contest was.
Pirates-GMC were well in it at halftime, down 20-10.
Ngatapa coach Steve Hickey said the game had “a lot of loose stuff”, which appeared to benefit his team.
A smaller side physically, they thrived on scraps of possession and profited from an intercept and well-executed counter-attacks.
Matt Raleigh led a proficient Ngatapa backline and snared a hat-trick of tries, Sam McDell had a high work rate at lock and Tom Sanson shone at No.8.
Cameron Rowden grabbed a brace off the bench, including one try he burgled down the right wing when Pirates-GMC were caught unawares.
Hickey said Pirates-GMC would grow from the experience and he expected them to be dangerous later in the competition.
Ken Houkamau, Mamau Kaitara and Willie Bollingford drove a solid Pirates-GMC forward pack.
Player-coach Willie Waitoa said his team “ran out of fitness”.
“We competed well in the set piece; we lost only one lineout,” he said.
Waitoa expected they would get up to speed with their fitness.
“This team was totally new. It’s something totally new to the whole region.”
Tiny White Medal winners2008 - Michael Broadhurst (Ngatapa)
2009 - Reece Durston (HSOB)
2010 - Jono Naupo (OBM)
2011 - BJ Sidney (YMP)
2012 - Nick Butler (OBM)
2013 - David Philander (OBM)
2014 - Sione Tamale (HSOB)
2015 - Matt Mead (HSOB)
2016 - Ken Houkamau (Pirates)
2017 - Jesse Fleming (Waikohu)
2018 - Campbell Chrisp (Ngatapa)
2019 - Andrew Tauatevalu (HSOB)