Prop Toma Laumalili leaves a Buller player in his wake on a charge towards the tryline to the delight of the Poverty Bay faithful. Saturday's wet weather did not stop the home side from scoring some excellent running tries in their 38-3 Heartland Championship win at Rugby Park. Photo / Angus Bodle
Prop Toma Laumalili leaves a Buller player in his wake on a charge towards the tryline to the delight of the Poverty Bay faithful. Saturday's wet weather did not stop the home side from scoring some excellent running tries in their 38-3 Heartland Championship win at Rugby Park. Photo / Angus Bodle
Poverty Bay’s 38-3 win over Buller at Gisborne’s Rugby Park on Saturday has lifted the Weka into Meads Cup top four contention in the Heartland Championship.
The Weka ran in six tries on a cold, wet afternoon braved by around 600 supporters to moveto fourth on the 12-team table with three wins from four matches ... a far cry from last year’s winless campaign.
Mid Canterbury and South Canterbury, each on four wins, occupy the top spots with 20 points while West Coast are third on 15 with a superior points differential to the Bay (also on 15).
The home side laid on six tries and earned a bonus point for the maximum five points in Saturday’s win, which was their 20th against Buller in 34 clashes since 1967.
Captain and openside flanker Keanu Taumata scored two tries, centre Cohen Loffler was named their Most Valuable Player and young lock Max Briant impressed on his Heartland debut.
Halfback Silas Brown, named in the starting XV for the first time, marked the occasion by scoring his first try for the Weka in the 55th minute.
Lock Leka Palusa and blindside flanker Niko Lauti were awarded their 10-game pockets – Palusa having played his 10th in the Bay’s win over Horowhenua-Kāpiti at Levin the previous Saturday.
Poverty Bay’s first-year head coach Paoraian Manuel-Harman summed up the pair’s impact and strength on the field of play in one word ... “monsters”.
He was pleased with the way his side adjusted.
“Our boys took a half to come to grips with the wet conditions by getting a bit deeper and running on to the ball with everything in front of them, instead of having to try to catch passes side-on,” Manuel-Harman said.
Poverty Bay first five Tayler Adams slides towards the tryline to score one of his team's six tries in a 38-3 win over Buller in week four of the Heartland Championship. Photo / Angus Bodle
“Buller came here with quality players, hungry for that first win, and so the turnaround in attitude that my assistant coach Adrian Wyrill and I have seen from our boys since the game against King Country [a 47-26 loss in week two] was big for us.”
Manuel-Harman said they were grinders who, with patience, backed their skills and shape to score off fourth- or fifth-phase ball.
However, in the likes of Tayler Adams, they do have a first five-eighths with the flair and willingness to crack opponents from the second or even first phase.
And they are doing the basics well, as noted by Buller head coach Craig Adams, who said the Bay scrum in the second half in particular was “awesome”.
Visiting captain and loosehead prop Anthony Ellis won the toss and chose to play into the wind in the first half.
The home team made a strong start and had the greater share of ball and better field position, but were penalised by Hawke’s Bay referee Stu Catley in the 15th minute and Buller centre Alex Scupbach – a late replacement for 12-season veteran Iliesa Tora – kicked the first points.
The Weka responded in the 26th minute. Adams fielded a long return kick, set right wing Josaia Bosoka in motion and from a breakdown, Loffler made a break down the left touch and fed inside to Adams, who slid over the line for the try.
Two minutes later, on the same side of the ground, Loffler gave a perfectly timed pass inside to loosehead prop Toma Laumalili and there was no stopping the former De La Salle First XV strongman.
Adams converted and the Weka went into halftime 12-3 up.
Five minutes after the resumption, workaholic No 8 Uini Fetalaiga grabbed the Bay’s third try from a tap kick and Adams converted for 19-3.
The Bay’s fourth try was sparked by the instinctive brilliance of fullback Kyoni Te Amo-Poki. From a Buller clearing kick 10m into Bay territory, the twinkling feet of Te Amo-poki zipped by would-be tacklers and Brown finished off under the bar.
Adams’ conversion made it 26-3 and he added another two points when Taumata scored in the 65th minute in a textbook drive after a lineout 5m from the left corner.
Five minutes later, Taumata completed his double. Following a scrappy period, left wing Matthew Proffit made a turbo-charged surge over halfway and linked with Loffler.
