The waiting game as Wairoa ready for a Barry Cup defence

Fingers are crossed in Wairoa for a Barry Cup sub-unions rugby defence to crown the town’s stellar year in the national game.

Wairoa wing Iowane Filimone playing for Tapuae earlier this season, now in the Poverty Bay Heartland Championship team. He's one of those Wairoa coach Sid Ropitini would like to see backing up for a Barry Cup defence in Wairoa on Sunday. Photo / Paul Rickards

Holders of the trophy since winning a challenge against Waikohu at Te Karaka in 2022, Wairoa successfully defended it four times in the cup’s centennial year in 2023.

But the first three defences this season have all been cancelled. Matakaoa pulled out of their match scheduled for September 8; Uawa were unable to reach Wairoa for their match on September 15 because State Highway 2 had been closed by a crash at Morere; and Tokomaru Bay withdrew from their challenge, which was to have been played last weekend.

The word in Wairoa on Friday was that Sunday’s match, starting at 2pm against Cape Runaway club Tihirau Victory, was “still on at this stage”. Tihirau, with a 300-kilometre trip each way, were beaten 26-10 by Wairoa in the third defence of 2022.

Wairoa coach Sid Ropitini said it had been a challenging time getting the team together for the defences, but some of those challenges came from the successes earlier in the year.

Wairoa clubs won the two Poverty Bay senior titles – Tapuae going through unbeaten for Wairoa’s first-ever claim to the major Poverty Bay title.

As a result, Wairoa’s had its strongest representation yet in the Poverty Bay Wekas squad playing in the national Heartland Championship, including the Wekas’ captain, Tapuae player Keanu Taumata.

Six Wairoa players are in the Wekas’ starting lineup for Saturday’s match against Thames Valley in Gisborne and one is in the reserves, with Ropitini hopeful most will also be available to back up for the cup defence in Wairoa 24 hours later.

The Wairoa sub-union is already calling for a meeting among teams in the cup region to enhance the future of the cup.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 51 years of journalism experience, 40 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.