Vipers show venom to beat Hawke's Bay XIII

Hawke's Bay player Gemma Woods (left) and Mid Central Vipers player Tina Moeahu tangle during the game the Vipers won 56-14 at Mitre 10 Park, Hastings. Photo / Paul Taylor

Almost three decades of rugby league coaching have done little to age Alan "Jacko" Jackson who weathered the early-summer heat on a return to Hawke's Bay in style as national rugby league women's championship side Mid-Central Vipers beat a Hawke's Bay XIII in Hastings today.

Jackson, from Taranaki, was still playing league when he took over coaching of the Hawke's Bay men's Unicorns team in 1991 and led a major turnaround in the game in the region.

In his first season, the Unicorns, having barely won a game in the previous 4-5 years, won 7 of 8 games the single defeat being by just two points against Northland in a national Division 2 decider in Whangarei.

The following season he fronted for a Lion Red XIII in a match against the-then glamour NRL side Manly Sea Eagles, in front of more than 11,000 fans at Nelson Park, Hastings.

"It's always nice to be back in Hawke's Bay," he said at Mitre 10 Park, the regional sports complex with superseded Nelson Park as it was levelled to make way for a shopping complex. Rubbing the back of his neck and saying: "I think I've got a bit of sunburn."

But it was not just the climate that was so appealing, for there was undoubted success on the field for his team preparing for a four-team national series starting with a game against Akarana on October 4, ran-in 11 tries and scored 20 unanswered points in the last quarter to beat the hastily-gathered home team 56-14.

Chosen from players across Taranaki, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay, none had had any club rugby league in their areas in the year of the coronavirus pandemic. They'd had a trial, and that was about it, while most of the Hawke's Bay team had had less, although several had played club rugby union.

The Vipers included several players from Hawke's Bay, among them loose forward Treyana Faulkner, with Jackson saying that despite the fact that few of the players had had any other rugby league in the pandemic-ruined year there were some players in the Hawke's Bay team who showed they could step-up to his squad over the next few weeks.

Hawke's Bay was, however, able to field some of their area's most experienced women's rugby and league players, including Amy Williams and Gemma Woods.

The home team's three tries were scored by Tuia Edwards, Marlane Harmer and Leila David, with Williams adding one goal.

Meanwhile, reigning men's league champion Bridge Pa celebrated their first match in the new season with a 34-26, at the park yesterday. It had been 10-10 at halftime and Bridge Pa came back from 10 points down in the second half to claim the win. Outkast Sports Club beat Tamatea in the only other Premier game.