It’s Senior 1 derby day in Wairoa

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

Saturday’s semifinal win at home against The Star was a dream outcome for club rugby’s Taniwha.

The green-and-blacks of unbeaten Roseland Tavern Tapuae beat the feisty Nuhaka V8s 15-12 with 400 in attendance at Tapuae Sports Ground No.1 to make the Civil Project Solutions Senior 1 rugby final.

Having led 5-0 at the break, the Gabriel Doull-led Taniwha laid on two second-half tries in the sort of furiously tight tussle that could prove to be the perfect spur for a strong showing on club rugby’s biggest weekend.

Tapuae will face two-time defending champions and Lew Patterson Cup holders Charteris Choppers Wairoa Athletic at Lambton Square from 1.30pm under experienced Poverty Bay referee and Wairoa local Matt Smith.

Athletic have made it back to the final by beating Pango Productions Uawa 45-10 on Field 1 at Bayleys Real Estate Gisborne Athletic Park.

Nuhaka, under co-captains No.8 Aoterangi Cotter and halfback Russel Love, with steely veterans such as blindside flanker Hickson Raroa to the fore, hit hard and often in the tackle. The Star’s defence was finally breached in the 19th minute on a boggy field by Tapuae powerhouse centre Iowane Filimoni, who scored a hat-trick in the 76-0 season opener against Horouta Te Waka.

In the 60th minute, reserve blindside flanker Sekove Serau dotted down to give the hosts a 10-0 lead.

Fetcher Atonio Vukicicakaudrove, Tapuae’s MVP (most valuable player), won that award for his tough tackling.

Nuhaka enjoyed more than 60 percent territory and possession and with true fighting spirit ran the ball at every opportunity. They were awarded a penalty try by referee Smith five minutes after Serau scored. The penalty try being worth seven points, Tapuae then led 15-7.

Not until the 85th minute did the visitors put a try-scorer’s name — that of reserve tighthead prop Zane Wairau — on the scoresheet. Having been given a penalty by Smith just inside the home team’s 22, on the right side of the ground, the V8s crunched to the goal-line over eight phases of play.

Wairau scored six metres in from the corner flag.

The conversion attempt was unsuccessful. Tapuae had won the 1 v 4 semifinal, their ninth consecutive win, 15-12.

Scrum anchor Doull’s men took a pounding from Nuhaka but came through it and earned a chance to win gold.

“It was a good blow-out that’ll help our boys get their bodies ready for the final and give us an idea of how things will go for us — as long as we can hold on to the ball,” Doull said.

“Our scrums were very good against The Star this time. It was a brutal game, they starved us of ball, forcing us to defend most of the time — we did well to hold them out — though when we did have the ball, we used it well.”

The vistors made their MVP a team award. The outfit that on March 18 held Tapuae to 17-7 at Nuhaka Domain and two weeks ago held Athletic to 20-15 in Wairoa finished a stop-start season with their heads held high.

Love said: “Our boys played well considering the conditions; there wasn’t much between the teams. We did pretty well against an unbeaten side.”

Wairoa Athletic produced a powerful, complete display to outscore Uawa by seven tries to one on Saturday — a terrific victory, 45-10.

Athletic captain and tighthead prop Alex Little said: “We’ve been building all season towards the final this weekend — we’re definitely the underdogs, considering we haven’t had a win against Tapuae so far this season — but we’re ready, and in a good place for one last hit-out.”

The hosts didn’t have it all their own way in the 2 v 3 semifinal. First five-eighth Josh Dearden, the Uawa MVP, opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the ninth minute.

Athletic struck back with unconverted tries to Little (21 minutes) and giant lock Adriaan Brits (28m).

Dearden, who got all of the Big Blue Crew’s points in their last outing for the year, then five minutes before the break scored the only try for Tolaga Bay’s finest on the day.

In converting his own try, Dearden kept Uawa in the hunt: the visitors trailed Wairoa-Athletic 13-10 at the break.

In the second half, Athletic went up another gear to score five more tries, one of which went to the hosts’ MVP, blindside flanker Tyrone Thornton.

Uawa never gave the game away, but Athletic at home and firing on all cylinders — as they were by then — are difficult to contain.

Uawa captain and right wing Mohi Bartlett has seen his team grow this year: “At the beginning of the season, we started in a rebuilding stage with management and players. As to the game, while we had players unavailable we were confident that we had a good enough team to contest the semi, and it was a close contest in the first half.

“We really enjoyed our season and are very grateful for the opportunity that the Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union gave us to play in their competition.”

Lenny Ferris, in his second season as a rugby referee, had a good semifinal.

“This has been a great experience for me, doing club as well as school rugby,” said Ferris, who is also coaching the Tapuae women’s team.

“It’s been made easier because of the positive attitude of the players to the ways in which the game has changed.

The new rules at scrum-time — teams now can’t push more than 1.5m in community rugby and opposition halfbacks aren’t allowed past the tunnel before the ball is cleared — are helping everyone.”

Roseland Tavern Tapuae Taniwha 15 (Iowane Filimone, Sekove Serau, Eneriko Tupou, tries) Nuhaka V8s 12 (penalty try, Zane Wairau try). HT: 5-0 (Tapuae).

Charteris Choppers Wairoa Athletic 45 (Alex Little, Adriaan Britts, Tyrone Thornton, Tame Goldsack, Moss Doran, George Twigley, Winiata Niania, tries; Doran 2 pen, con, Brandon Carr con) Pango Productions Uawa 10 (Josh Dearden try, con, pen). HT: 13-10.

MVPs: Atonio Vukicicakaudrove (Tapuae), team award (Nuhaka V8s), Tyrone Thornton (Wairoa Athletic), Josh Dearden (Uawa).

Team lists for the 2023 Civil Project Solutions Senior 1 final —

ROSELAND TAVERN TAPUAE TANIWHA: Donnelly Hikawai, Wayne Hema, Gabriel Doull (captain), Esera Makulau, Paul Quesnell, John James Solomon, Atonio Vukicicakaudrove, Isaac Hikawai, Kingi Te Amo, Nikau Kaimoana, Ruka Hatley, Leroy Taiapa, Iowane Filimone, Eneriko Tupou, Kyoni-Tyrese TeAmo-Poki. Reserves: Brayden Tither, Tihema Te Kahika, Sekove Serau, Jeke Fatafehi, Te Kapua Rewi-Munro, Bernard Taylor, Te Kauri Carroll.

CHARTERIS CHOPPERS WAIROA ATHLETIC: Alex Little (captain), Daniel Knubley, Jordan Biddle, Brodie Taylor, Toby Wilkinson, Tyrone Thornton, Tame Goldsack, Moss Doran, Joe McGregor, George Twigley, BJ Stewart, Angus Twigley, Lennox Rogers, Trivy Meredith, Cameron Haskell. Reserves: Hayden Thornton, Sam McFarlane, Winiata Niania, Charlie Taylor, Brandon Carr, Vaughan Goldsmith, Douglas Vehikite.