Rugby league: HB men concede too many penalties

Unicorns secondrower Richard Gillies fends against the Orcas yesterday in Hastings. Photo/Paul Taylor

Painful in patches ... promising in others.

That's the best way to describe the Hawke's Bay Unicorns 54-28 loss to the Wellington Orcas at Bill Mathewson Park, Hastings, yesterday. It was the Unicorns first outing since 2008 and it showed.

Poor defensive line speed and a lack of communication from the hosts saw the Orcas establish a 28-0 lead before substitute secondrower Richard Gillies scored the first of his two tries for the Unicorns in the 34th minute. Four minutes later captain and hooker Colin Hokianga, the Bays best player, scored and with backrower William Schuster landing his second consecutive goal the halftime score of 28-12 was respectable.

Those promising signs continued early in the second half when busy substitute winger Maurice Tala scored and Schuster, who finished the game with four successes from five attempts, was again on target. However concentration lapses and poor ball security during the next 15 minutes saw the Orcas extend their lead to 44-18.

During this period Unicorns co-coaches Dion Te Ahu and Daniel De Thierry made what appeared to be crazy substitutions. They later emphasised they wanted to give all of their squad sufficient game time to push for a berth to play Taranaki on June 15.

Along with Hokianga substitute secondrower Richard Gillies, was the best of the host forwards. He scored two tries and was eager for work.

A nephew of former New Zealand Maori representative Maynard Gillies, he is a product of the Omahu club. Like Hokianga he also played for the Unicorns back in 2008 and he is eager to play against Taranaki in a clash which will double as a Central Vipers trial.

Another substitute forward and Omahu player, Rapa Nuku, had some memorable patches. Providing he works on his fitness he could force his way into the Vipers.

The Unicorns conceded far too many soft penalties in a game well controlled by top Hawke's Bay referee and former Unicorns winger Shane Foster. Centre Vailoa Kereti displayed a lack of intelligence when sin-binned for a no arms tackle in the first quarter.

Kereti went a little way to redeeming himself during the final quarter with a couple of spectacular line-breaks and effective tackles which have seen him gain international selection for Samoa in union.

Centre Ray Lesoa was classy in the Orcas backline and deserved his hattrick. He received quality service from his inside back combination of scrumhalf Peter Rikirki and standoff Shaun Playford.

Scorers:

Wellington Orcas 54 (Ray Lesoa 3, Pauli Lemani 2, Denzil Guth, Anthony Utanga, Petera Rikiriki, Shaun Playford, Mike Nathan, Darcy Walker tries; Playford 5 goals), Hawkes Bay Unicorns 28 (Richard Gillies 2, Maurice Tala, Colin Hokianga, Lima Eteru tries; William Schuster 4 goals). Halftime: 28-12.