Others to impress for Hastings were captain and lock Tom Parsons who scored his first try for the side and promising prop Dennis Tapusua. Clive manager Alan Nisbet said his side failed to reproduce the form which resulted in wins in their previous two outings and missed the services of No8 Mark Atkins and lock Sven Hogenesch who were both unavailable.
Openside flanker James Tango, lock Casper Repko, No8 Kenny Robinson and second five-eighth Jesse Tuhua were best for the visitors.
NOBM 20 Central 13
Hawke's Bay Insurances Napier Old Boys Marist coach Mike Warren was heaping praise on Jone Paumau after this win at Waipukurau's Central Park.
First five-eighth Paumau deserved it. He played the first 50 minutes before he was picked up by his Wellington-based partner who had driven north before the pair drove to the capital to catch a flight to Auckland for the funeral of an uncle of Paumau.
"Jone could have pulled out altogether from the match but that shows his commitment to the team," Warren said.
Winger Pete Simo was another to shine in the winning backline and Warren was proud of the domination displayed by all of his forwards for large periods. Central manager Tony Lepelaars said his side fought back well in the second half after trailing 17-3 at halftime.
Lock Tom Symes and prop Andrew Martin were both prominent in the Central pack and first five-eighth Stephen Baker scored a try in his last outing for the side before moving to Australia. NOBM played the final 12 minutes with 13 men after halfback Cory Simpkins and fullback Spencer Isopo were both sinbinned.
Pirate 26 MAC 0
Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports ended MAC's unbeaten run with this convincing victory at Flaxmere's Ron Giorgi Park.
"We learnt from our mistakes in the previous week's loss to Havelock. We placed a huge emphasis on mental preparation as opposed to physical preparation," Pirate manager Murray Kennedy said.
Blindside flanker Marcus Donovan and tighthead prop Kelsey Miller were inspirational in the Pirate pack. First five-eighth David Neilson directed the winning backline well in the absence of captain and regular pivot Aayden Clarke who is injured.
MAC coach Pat Benson said his players did stupid things under pressure and drifted away from their core values. Gutsy halfback Caelyn Box and lock Jean Pierre Liebenberg were the pick of the hosts.
NTOB 80 Tamatea 8
Versatile Tech Group of Companies Napier Technical outside back Zane Crook scored 28 points in this drubbing at Bill Mathewson Park, Hastings.
Crook scored two tries and kicked nine conversions. However, he didn't make manager Cyril Whitburn's MVP list which featured flankers Hugh Reed and Izaiah Martin and second five-eighth Tane McGuire.
Tamatea competed well against the unbeaten joint leaders in the first half and trailed 19-8 at halftime. However, injuries took their toll on the hosts in the second spell and golden oldies scrums were already being used because of a lack of frontrowers when the fulltime whistle was blown seven minutes early.
Havelock 25 Taradale 15
Poor option taking in the second half proved costly for Carters Frame and Truss Taradale in this home loss to Progressive Meats Havelock North.
As expected, the hosts started strongly with their bigger and more experienced pack enjoying long periods of dominance as Taradale established a 12-7 halftime lead.
However, Havelock's key trio of prop Brendon Edmonds, openside flanker Tony Lamborn and Ihaia West, who had a mediocre first half by his high standards, played to their potential in the second half and put the hosts under pressure to secure the win. Fullback Johnny Robin was another to impress for the visitors.
