Tapuae go top after local derby win

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

Tapuae have taken over. Or at least the Gabriel Doull-led green-and-blacks’ quest for the Lew Patterson Cup is in great shape, after their 19-point victory in the local derby on Saturday.

Roseland Tavern Tapuae beat two-time defending champions Charteris Choppers Wairoa Athletic 29-10 in a top-of-the-table clash in Week 3 of the Civil Project Solutions Senior 1 competition.

Tapuae (14 competition points) and Tolaga Bay-based Uawa (13pts) remain unbeaten. Athletic have 10 points, Horouta nine, the Nuhaka V8s and YMP Bumbles five, Ngatapa Harvest Matawhero Transport three, and Enterprise Cars OBM none.

The MVPs (most valuable players) in Week 3 were centre Iowane Filimoni (Tapuae), openside flanker Ollie Rhodes (Wairoa Athletic), first five-eighth Josh Dearden (Uawa), fetcher Weihana Delamere (Horouta), loosehead prop Raukura Waihape (Nuhaka), lock Daelyn Taumata (YMP), blindside flanker Ben Robertson (Ngatapa) and lock Rico Te Kani (OBM).

Filimoni, with a hat-trick of tries, made the match-winning difference for Tapuae at Bayleys Athletic Park at the weekend.

“Our boys trusted in each other to get the job done,” skipper Doull said.

“They were up front with tackles and ran hard with the ball in hand. Fitness also played a huge part in the second half, when we scored back-to-back.

“There’s something different about us this year. Tapuae are hungrier then ever, determined to make training sessions and win on Saturdays.”

Athletic player-coach and second-five Moss Doran — capped 23 times for Poverty Bay from 2012 to 2014, 17 times for Thames Valley from 2014 to ’16 and twice for the Heartland 15 in 2015 — scored the home team’s first try.

Tapuae led 17-5 at the break in the “Battle of the Bridge” under local referee Matt Smith, despite fielding the smallest forward pack in the Wairoa sub-union.

Smith is one of five Wairoa-based officials who meet weekly and whose willingness to travel on rugby’s behalf extends to coaching also. Toby Taylor, who controlled Nuhaka-Uawa at the weekend, today brought Wairoa College to Barry Park to play Gisborne Boys’ High School Ngatai in the Courage Cup.

Taylor was in the middle of uncompromising rugby during Uawa’s 10-7 win at Nuhaka Domain.

Nuhaka held the competition’s new leaders Tapuae to a 10-point margin a week ago and beat Ngatapa 20-3 in the season opener.

A win and two losses at home constitutes a record to drive rather than stymie The Star under V8s captain and lock Russel Love. He spoke of the physical nature of this latest contest, which the nil-all halftime score bears out.

Uawa first-five Josh Dearden opened the scoring with a 30-metre penalty goal 10 minutes after halftime. Nuhaka lock Moses Voka scored the game’s first try 58 minutes in, with a conversion from blindside flanker Tahuwaka Edwards for 7-3.

After 72 minutes, right wing Kereama Leach of Uawa scored the second try of the match, from a charge-down, for an 8-7 lead; Dearden’s conversion sealed a second away win for Uawa, 10-7.

Uawa and Ngati Porou East Coast scrum coach Laman Davies was pleased with the showing of young locks Rani Moran and Nathan Fitzgerald, the latter replaced by veteran Reg Namana 10 minutes after the resumption.

Uawa captain and No.8 Mahuta Moran acknowledged Dearden’s control of the backline and the courage of Tolaga Bay’s finest overall: “Our boys played well in a big battle — a tight, physical game.”

Well might the rugby community be delighted for Horouta in Week 3.

The Waka beat Ngatapa Harvest Matawhero Transport 15-14 on Gisborne Oval 1 to record their first win of the season for a legendary club reinvested and reborn.

In the 34th minute, Horouta left wing Paora Nukunuku scored the only try of the first half — with a conversion courtesy of second-five Matt Marino — to give the green-and-gold a 7-0 lead at the break. Fullback Emori Ralisa then drew blood with a penalty goal for 10-0 after 48 minutes but the pace of the game became frenetic in the last quarter.

In the 68th minute, Ngatapa first-five Reuben Papuni charged a kick down to score. The conversion from fullback Tupai Matenga closed it to 10-7.

After 77 minutes, quality blindside flanker Ben Robertson grabbed the third try of the match and Matenga’s conversion put Ngatapa ahead 14-10.

At that point, only a miracle-worker could save Te Waka.

That man was powerhouse fullback Jayden Brown, whose ability to time his run and finish a great swing move gave him a look at the right corner.

He scored.

No conversion followed, but Horouta — who had held the whip hand for 67 minutes before losing it — had come back from the brink to win on fulltime.

Terry Reeves’s good positioning and consistency helped him serve the game well as referee.

After a 76-point drubbing from Tapuae at Waikirikiri Park and a 41-12 loss to OBM on Oval 1, Horouta returned to Oval 1 to savour triumph for the first time in their comeback season.

They weren’t the only team to taste victory for the first time at the weekend.

The LVB Farm Services YMP Bumbles under Tony Barbarich have come a long way since the 22-5 loss to Uawa on April 15. Wairoa Athletic (32-10) were too tough to beat at home, but YMP took the maximum five points from their 31-14 win against Enterprise Cars OBM on Saturday.

First-five Reihana Wyllie scored two of the Bumbles’ five tries but loosehead prop Sam King-Taufa got the opening try after a rugged start to the game. YMP led 12-7 at halftime.

First-five Puhi Tau’s converted try, after 53 minutes, brought OBM back into the game at 19-14 but two late scores to the Bumbles made their win safe.

OBM player-coach and hooker Clint Pirihi sees scope for his pack to be more physical in future, but co-captain and left wing Blake Crosby enjoyed what was clean, vigorous competition, well-controlled by referee Paul Brown.

“That was a good game of Senior 1 rugby — YMP brought it to us, with strong ball-running forwards and excellent play out wide. The game was played in great spirit and could’ve gone either way, but YMP closed it out.”