Third place at Hurricanes tournament

Ngāti Porou East Coast u-15 girls: (Back row, left-to-right) Destiny Kenworthy, Shelby Edwards, Liah Biddle-Murtagh (vice-captain), Karma Rickard (captain), Rēve Ngaheu, Addison Carruthers, Dane-a Kopa, Brianna Te Rauna, Hinetapuarau Delamere, Ngarohi Haerewa-Tibble, Sean Murtagh (coach). (Middle-row) Lily Rudland, Whaiora Kopa, Agnes McGarvey, Te Ahimanawa Mato, Reese Teepa, Zella Shelford. (Front row) Kayless Boyce.Picture supplied

The trip home from Levin was a very happy one.

The Sean Murtagh-coached Ngāti Porou East Coast under-15 girls rugby team came third in the Hurricanes Tournament at Playford Park and played superbly.

Ex-NPEC Kaupoi winger Murtagh's crew beat Manukura 15-12, Cullinane 32-10 and Wainuiomata 26-22 before St Mary's beat the Sky Blues 25-7.

The Coast beat Wairarapa-Bush 30-10, but though NPEC, St Mary's and Manukura each had eight competition points in round-robin play, the latter two advanced on points differential for and against.

The Coast beat Wainuiomata for third place 29-10 — NPEC captain prop and No.8 Karma Rickard and vice-captain and lock Liah Biddle-Murtagh led a side that played with passion, flair, skill and tremendous spirit.

The girls tournament effort was all the more meritorious in that, despite having worked hard individually and in small groups for five weeks prior to the tourney, they held their first full team run half an-hour after their arrival in Levin.

Centre Whaiora Kopa was the Coast's Most Valuable Player of the tournament for a side that their manager Nadia Biddle described as “absolutely amazing” to work with.

Skipper Karma Rickard said: “We glued just like that. Our girls got to know each other quickly . . . we played well as a team and the highlight of the trip for me was winning our first game against Manukura.”