Wairoa: Nine tries in muddy Mahia Barry Cup defence

The spoils of a hard day's work are obvious as Wairoa celebrates the Barry Cup defence win over Matakaoa in the mud at Mahia on Sunday. Photo / Supplied

The Wairoa Rugby Sub-Union has opened its representative season 2025 season with another successful defence of the Barry Cup.

Wairoa beat East Coast side Matakaoa 55-14 on Sunday at Kaiuku Domain, Mahia, continuing a stranglehold on the trophy since a successful challenge against Poverty Bay side Waikohu three years ago.

The Barry Cup tradition of sub-union rugby from Wairoa, to Poverty Bay, East Coast and Eastern Bay of Plenty has been kept alive with Wairoa hosting about four defences a season, with teams travelling up to 310km each away, despite the difficulties getting sufficient numbers.

Conditions were wet and muddy after recent rain and more during the game, in which the challengers stung Wairoa early with a try from an intercept soon after the home side fielded the ball from the kick-off.

But the greens were on top by halftime, a feature being the man-of-the match performance by Kaihau Pasikala, who plays Hawke’s Bay Premier rugby for Havelock North and scored three tries, starting the game at lock.

Leading 35-7 at halftime, Wairoa scored nine tries, the others going to Wayne Hema, Wiremu Erkell, Lennox Shanks, Nikora Smith, Tiakiwai Hauwai and Te Amaru Tuhi. First five-eighths Erkell kicked five conversions.

With sides able to field homegrown players now based elsewhere, the side was captained from the loose forwards by Hugh Taylor, who a week earlier was vice-captain of the Napier Pirate team beaten 47-40 by Taradale in the Maddison Trophy Hawke’s Bay premier final.

Stand-in coach and Tapuae player Paoraian Manual-Harman, who coaches Poverty Bay in this season’s NPC Heartland championship, said the team had a single training session last Wednesday.

Currently injured, he said the team had a good mix of players from Wairoa Athletic, Tapuae, Mahia and Nūhaka and he was hoping for more for this Wednesday’s training and Sunday’s second 2025 cup defence against East Coast side Ūawa.

The venue for the defence was on Monday yet to be decided.

Mahia is out of consideration because of the condition of the ground and the sub-union is trying to keep town venue Lambton Square in good condition for the five days of the Ross Shield Hawke’s Bay primary schools tournament from September 22 to 28, the first time the tournament has been played in Wairoa since 2019.

Meanwhile, Central Hawke’s Bay’s defence of another sub-unions trophy, the Bebbingrton Shield, will be played against Northern Whanganui in Ohakune on August 9.

The match had been previously scheduled for Saturday, but a decision to defer the match for three weeks was made last week because of a shortage of players at the weekend.

Next Saturday, Central Hawke’s Bay play King Country in Waipawa, the second of three matches against NPC Heartland unions this season.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.