There was no stopping YMP on the Taniwha’s home Tapuae Sports Ground.
Tapuae were without experienced loosehead prop Tom Ormond, openside flanker Keanu Taumata, centre Ethine Reeves and left wing Tatana Smith, but co-captain Wayne Hema made no excuses.
“Those guys are good players and yes, we missed them, but we were outplayed by the better team on the day.”
YMP coach Willie Brown and captain Shayde Skudder were “stoked” with the win – Skudder highlighting their passionate defence to keep Tapuae scoreless.
YMP ran in seven tries – the first of those to hooker Skudder from a drive from a lineout 5m from the line.
Seven minutes later, second five Anthony Karauria spun between four defenders to score under the crossbar after a snake-like drive following another lineout.
First five Mitchell Purvis converted for 12-0.
Another lineout drive in the 20th minute saw the ball quickly shifted to the blindside for right winger Nashwen Mouton to dot down.
Rookie left wing Quaydon Chaffey-Kora scored in the corner on the cusp of halftime to give YMP a 22-0 lead.
Rather than go in all guns blazing, YMP’s approach was methodical, even surgically precise, up to and after the break.
Karauria made it a double in the 51st minute and seven minutes later, quality lineout play, quick ball and slick passing sent Chaffey-Kora in for his second try.
Halfback Ra Broughton and Purvis combined to put fullback Matt Rutene away for their last try in the 71st minute.
Purvis’s sideline conversion completed the scoring.
Lock Petelo Palusa bagged a hat-trick and first five Te-Reimana Gray and right wing Jack Truelock got two tries apiece in HSOB’s superb effort against Pirates.
Game-day captain and No 8 Siosiua Moala, deputising for injured halfback George Halley, inspired awe with ball in hand and in defence, while Gray and Truelock showed impressive skill as finishers.
Pirates head coach Anthony Kiwara said he was “proud of our forwards’ effort” and believed openside flanker Paula Tatafu, who scored two tries, had Heartland potential.
“Our first five Avia Ropati gave us good direction, too, which is another a huge plus for us, and we’re doing the basics well.”
OBM’s 32-27 win over Ngātapa to retain the Graeme Allen Memorial Cup was a heart-stopper.
From 29-7 up, OBM faced a turnaround of terrifying proportions as Ngātapa scored 20 unanswered points by the 77th minute.
A 40m penalty goal from the boot of first five Austin Brown in the 82nd minute sealed victory for OBM.
“We started well, getting the nudge on them at scrum-time in the first half, with Toru Noanoa coming on for loosehead prop Ratu Nairoroi jnr and Lance Dickson moving from hooker back into tighthead prop,” OBM captain and lock Jordan Kingi said.
“We ended up with injuries and a lot of guys playing out of position in the second half, and Ngātapa started to find space out wide and gain momentum towards the end of the game.”
Over the last fortnight, OBM have lost front-row forwards key to their success early in games. Eight minutes into their week-six game against HSOB, hooker Rikki Terekia hurt his right knee and 11 minutes into the Ngātapa match, promising loosehead prop Ratu Nairoroi jnr left the field with a neck twinge.
Both are vital cogs in the OBM machine.
Ngātapa opened the scoring in the eighth minute with the first of two superb tries to right wing Mosese Bulicakau early in both halves.
His intercept try to light the fire was a beauty.
OBM, stung by his score against the run of play, responded with five five-pointers – to lock Jope Lido (16th minute), openside flanker Jokatama Cewa (19th), right wing Qkylau Leach (23rd), fullback Josaia Bosaka (34th) and Leach again (36th).
Brown converted two of the tries; his opposite Tim Haldane converted Bulicakau’s opener.
“We went to sleep for the last 20 minutes of the first half and that cost us,” Ngātapa captain and lock Jack Twigley said. “But it was a good effort from the boys in the second half.”
Following Bulicakau’s second try to spark Ngātapa’s comeback, Chicago native and right wing Jonathan Taylor’s nimble skip and grunt got him over out wide in the 65th.
The hammer-and-tong revival continued with tries to reserve lock Lachie Johnson in the 73rd minute and giant loosehead prop Atonio Walker-Leawere in the 77th to close it to 29-27.
Haldane and Brown were solid all-round and are better goalkickers than two conversions of five tries per team suggests. Five attempts were from the touchline.
Left-footer Brown showed great nerve in landing the injury-time penalty kick from centrefield.
- Premier Grade referees Keelyn Smith (OBM v Ngātapa), Ben Holt (HSOB v Pirates) and Lenny Ferris (Tapuae v YMP) were at the forefront of an excellent showing by officials over the weekend. Paul Brown (Wairoa Athletic v Ngatapa), Thomas Nukunuku (YMP Bumbles v Nūhaka V8s) and Les Thomas (HSOB v Mahia) served the game well, also in Senior 1 fixtures.
