Rugby: Shield of joy for Napier

The Napier Ross Shield team with the spoils of victory on Saturday. In front, second from left, is player of the tournament Afa Moleli. Photo / Karen Blair

It was an emotionally stacked second consecutive win for Napier when the Ross Shield rugby tournament ended in Dannevirke on Saturday.

"We were rapt to win and we really wanted it for the Vaimoli brothers," classy first five-eighth and Taupo Trophy recipient for player of the tournament Afa Moleli said after his team completed an unbeaten run with a 26-6 win over Hastings East at Rugby Park.

He was referring to lock Mathew and winger Mark Vaimoli, whose father Fetalaina Vaimoli died two weeks before the tournament began after a battle with cancer.

While Mathew was one of 10 Napier players named in the tournament team, Mark was unlucky to miss out after a quality week, including scoring a hat-trick on Saturday.

A Year 8 student at Napier Intermediate, Moleli, 13, has played for the Napier Old Boys Marist club for the past eight years. He is tipped to have a big future in the game and his demeanour on and off the field certainly suggests it.

He agreed the win against Hastings East was tougher than the score suggests. Napier led 5-3 at halftime and it was only during the final 10 minutes that the defending champions in the 114th edition of the Heinz Wattie's-sponsored event, the showpiece of Hawke's Bay Primary Schools rugby, pulled away from a gutsy East outfit.

Co-captain and prop Aone Lolofie and lock Jacob Smith were inspirational in the East engine room. Co-captain and first five-eighth Cooper Flanders and winger Ryan Ashman shone in the East backline.

The Clint Chamberlain-coached Napier side scored 231 points and conceded 30 in their five games. This was a phenomenal feat considering the games consist of 30-minute halves.

"After the disappointment of our loss to West yesterday, we bounced back well," East head coach Andrew Hui said.

"We dug deep and took it to Napier ... it was all on until those final 10 minutes."

Had East won the match, they would have shared the Ross Shield with Hastings West and Napier. East's third placing wasn't the farewell Hui, assistant coach Ford Panirau and manager deserved after their five-year stint, which included two tournament wins, a second and two thirds.

Hui's other assistant coach, former Magpies loosie Glen Varcoe, will continue on with the team.

Just as popular as Moleli's Taupo Trophy success was Dannevirke captain and No8 Tawera Rautahi being awarded the Jarrod Cunningham Trust Scholarship.

As part of the scholarship, Rautahi will attend an International Rugby Academy of New Zealand course in Palmerston North.

He was the sole Dannevirke player named in the Hawke's Bay Ross Shield team. His Dannevirke side also won the trophy for the top country team courtesy of their entertaining 13-12 win against Central earlier on Saturday.

Second placegetters Hastings West also took home the Ron Pierce Trophy for outstanding sportsmanship on and off the field.

The tournament's secretary-treasurer Errol Hantz, who has been involved with the event since 1967, received an award for outstanding service. He will step down from this role at this month's annual meeting of the committee.

"While I've been involved since 1967, I got into it in a big way in 1984 when the late Bill Mathewson was in full swing.

Ever since then, there was a small bunch of us who have been steering the ship. We got a lot of enjoyment seeing youngsters come through this tournament and develop in the game," Hantz said.