Late tries give HSOB flattering margin

ATTACKING THE LINE: High School Old Boys right-winger Zane Boyle takes on OBM backs Hori Franklin (left) and John Jones. Late tries by Siosiua Moala and Korey Love cemented an 18-6 victory for HSOB. Picture by Paul Rickard

TRIES to No.8 Siosiua Moala and left-winger Korey Love gave High School Old Boys a flattering 18-6 win against a 14-man OBM side in the final game of the first round of premier rugby at the Oval on Saturday.

The victory ensured Woodbank HSOB kept their unbeaten record this season, held on to the Challenge Cup and took first-round honours.

But with 18 minutes to go, second-placed Enterprise Cars OBM, with the wind at their backs, led 6-4 and looked likely to pull off an upset win.

Then in the 63rd minute, OBM skipper Murray Hewson was sent off for throwing a punch. Four minutes later, Moala scored a try after second five-eighth James Warren and loosie-turned-prop Hikanui Curtis came close to crashing over the line. Fullback Cory Reihana converted, and it was 12-6 to the competition leaders.

Still the 14 men refused to buckle and with six minutes to play, replacement flanker Efoti Moimoi looked to have reduced the deficit when he dotted down out wide and referee’s assistant Paul Brown gave the thumbs up, only for referee Damien Macpherson, who was right on the spot, to disallow the try for a forward pass.

With two minutes to play, OBM were awarded a penalty just inside their own half.

Up went the roar from the OBM supporters: “Kick it into the corner; go for the try”.

Unfortunately for John Jones, he failed to find the left-wing touch and HSOB launched a scintillating counter-attack down the opposite wing. It ended with Love showing great determination and skill to put the final nail in OBM’s coffin.

Hewson was gutted at being shown his first red card in a premier-grade career that started in 2003.

“I let the boys down,” he said.

“It was a nothing tap. The game was there to be won.”

Hewson will now miss tonight’s Poverty Bay-New Zealand Universities game at Rugby Park.

Plenty of actionDespite the low scoring — HSOB were 2-0 up at halftime — both teams supplied plenty of action, if not the quality that one might expect from the top two sides in the competition.

“We turned the ball over far too much in the first half and as a result couldn’t get any continuity,” HSOB coach Wayne Ensor said.

“I thought we played much better in the third quarter but OBM will rue making too many mistakes.

“I was pleased with the intensity of the game. That’s the type of game you can expect at the business end of the season and I want the players to play games like that every week.”

OBM coach Stu Blair hit the nail on the head when he said, “That’s another lost opportunity”.

“We were on top in the second half, had the wind behind us and had plenty of opportunities to put them under pressure by kicking into the corners.”

Not only did OBM fail to use the wind, kick for touch then drive towards the tryline — which was how openside flanker James Grogan scored his side’s try — they tried to run the ball out from behind their goal-line and inside their 22.

When they did kick, they more often than not found an opposition player.

In a match billed as “the battle of the Oval”, both teams held nothing back from the kick-off.

Too many scufflesThe result was a few too many scuffles. HSOB prop Russell Burns was shown a yellow card for lifting an OBM player, and HSOB hooker and co-captain Jody Tuhaka and OBM lock Jacob Cook had a lucky escape after exchanging “handbag” punches in the first half.

Traditionally, the man-of-the-match award goes to a player on the winning team and once again Moala put his hand up, but my man of the match was Grogan. He and Moala are the best players in the competition at this stage of the season.

Grogan, James Rutene (No.8) and Josh Blair (blindside) won the battle of the breakdown. Grogan, in particular, killed HSOB in the loose and when he ran he fired out passes better than any back on show. His brother Willy made his comeback from injury at halfback and was another to impress.

Although Moala led the charge for HSOB, Love looked lively when he replaced Manase Tupe, who was injured in a heavy tackle early in the game.

Warren, despite being sinbinned in the 74th minute, was a calming influence on proceedings as things threatened to get out of hand on the odd occasion.

Right-winger Zane Boyle did not get many attacking opportunities but he made a huge contribution to the win when he stopped a rampaging Rutene in the 78th minute. Rutene had a man on either side of him but opted to take on Boyle, who stood his ground and ended the attack.

HSOB 18 (Siosiua Moala, Korey Love tries; Cory Reihana con, 2 pen).

OBM 6 (James Grogan try).

HT: 2-0 (HSOB).