Rugby: Pirate Pouri Rakete-Stones prop obvious choice after blowing 'em apart

Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports prop Pouri Rakete-Stones catches up on his EIT architecture studies. Photo/Duncan Brown

Many Hawke's Bay rugby fans may be surprised by this week's choice for the weekly MVP award ... Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports prop Pouri Rakete-Stones.

Some will ask why we didn't go with fellow Magpies prop Jason Long following his display for Hastings Rugby and Sports as they ended Napier Old Boys Marist's unbeaten run. The answer is simple ... Long is part of an extremely good forward pack which includes four members of the Magpies wider training group while Rakete-Stones is the only Magpie in the Pirate pack.

While Tanalised Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports drew 18-all with Taradale Rugby and Sports at Tareha Recreation Reserve, this effort reflected vast improvement from a previously winless team in the Tui Maddison Trophy comp which was up against a previously unbeaten outfit.

When Pirate manager Charles Reid said "Pouri blew Taradale apart" that statement carried a lot of weight.

Reid is one of the toughest critics of his team and has every right to be. He only heaps kudos on his players when they deserve it.

"This has been a good season for me and that was a good game ... the boys played well," 2017 world champion Baby Black Rakete-Stones said.

"It definitely lifted the team morale. Hopefully we get a few more wins before the season ends."

The week 12 winner in the battle for the McDonald's-Hawke's Bay Today Club Rugby Player of the Year award, Rakete-Stones, has been alternating between the tighthead and loosehead roles this season. He had the tighthead role against Taradale.

"I'm enjoying playing both and this will prove beneficial come Mitre 10 Cup time. Most of my rugby during my two seasons in the 1st XV at Napier Boys High School was at hooker but I prefer prop," Rakete-Stones explained.

"I was really lucky last year because Ben May was injured and I got a lot of game time for the Magpies which was really good for my development," he said, referring to his 10 matches which involved nine starts and 529 minutes.

"The goal this year is to have a good Magpies season and hopefully get a few starts to boost my chances of Super Rugby selection at the end of the season."

Rakete-Stones, who turns 21 next week, is a firm believer in the policy of focusing on one game at a time and he knows not to look any further ahead than his club side's match against Northfuels Central at Tamatea Park. Central have also displayed admirable improvement in recent weeks and Rakete-Stones is expecting a tough encounter.

A former biosecurity worker at the Hawke's Bay Regional Council with his father Pouri snr, Rakete-Stones, started an architecture course at EIT earlier this year.

"It keeps the mind ticking over and I want to get into property development after my rugby career has finished," he added.

Best & fairest
Pirate v Taradale: 3, Pouri Rakete-Stones (Pirate); 2, Brad Truesdale (Taradale); 1, Matt Hill (Pirate).
Hastings v NOBM: 3, Jason Long (Hastings); 2, Ben Hamelink (Hastings); 1, Matt Gardner (NOBM).
Central v Tamatea: 3, Tom Parsons (Central); 2, Jimi Harris (Tamatea); 1, Scott Mathias (Central).
Clive v Napier Technical: 3, Adam Jones (Clive); 2, Jonah Lowe (Clive); 1, Perrin Manuel (Tech).
Havelock North v MAC: 3, Adam Blake (Havelock); 2, Solomone Funaki (MAC); 1, Trent Hape (Havelock).
Leaderboard: 14 points: Chris Johnston (NOBM). 9: Johnny Ika (MAC). 8: Pouri Rakete-Stones (Pirate), Tom Parsons (Central), Aleki Vuki (Hastings). 7: Ben Hamelink, Danny Toala, Timo Vaiusu (all Hastings), Ricky Hayes, Hannon Brighouse (both NOBM), Lincoln McClutchie (Tamatea), Fa'alemiga Selesele (MAC). 6: Michael Buckley (NOBM), Mark Braidwood (Tech), Mason Kean (Tamatea).